WTH

dewme said:

It's obviously not intended for security or theft protection because the tag could be easily removed.

Not if it is hidden in the vehicle.  People already use Tiles for this very purpose, but they don't work that well because there are relatively few people running the Tile app on their phones, so you rarely get a "hit" even if you're tracking the Tile in an urban area.

The Airtag will be a Tile on steroids, pinging every iPhone within range through the "Find My" framework.  It'll be nearly as effective as a GPS tracker, but without subscription fees, cellular access, or a battery that needs recharging every two weeks.

Once people get an idea what Airtags are capable of, I expect that they'll be hidden in just about any object that is worth protecting.  I further expect that the functionality of an Airtag will eventually be incorporated into the electronics of trucks, automobiles, motorcycles, etc.  Sure, you could rip out the electronics of a car and render it untrackable (and non-functional), but that isn't something that a car thief is going to do if he wants a working vehicle.  You can also expect a lot of companies to sell products to assist you in securely hiding an Airtag on / in a vehicle.  

Where I live, we have an ongoing epidemic of gang members stealing cars, driving them while committing more crimes, then abandoning each vehicle for another stolen car.  Airtags are going to upend that cycle.  When your average car owner is able to immediately share the latest location update of his or her stolen vehicle with the police, it's going to be a whole lot tougher for the criminals to move around the city.

I always assumed that Amazon would do this first, by tying in some sort of tracker with their Ring doorbell system.  But despite rumors of a Ring tracker, it has never happened.  Now Apple is going to dominate this market, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone.