AirTag showing wrong location

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Level 1

4 points

AirTag showing wrong location

I have two AirTags, and location has never been their strength. Currently one shows its physical location as Denver (not updated since March 22nd) and the other shows its location as Honolulu (not updated since last December 1st), however, both of them are showing "With you" in Los Angeles. Given that I have not figured out how to be in Hawaii, Colorado, and California at the same time, this is clearly an Apple issue.

I tried resetting one of the AirTags, and now it says "No location found" while also saying "With you."

So, any ideas?

AirTag

Posted on Jun 25, 2023 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

152,672 points

Jun 25, 2023 3:11 PM in response to rfinco

So, I'm guessing from what you posted, you have both of these AirTags currently with you now ... correct?

Are they over a year old? If either, did you change their batteries?

As far as location, AirTags rely on Bluetooth. When they are near your iPhone, this is what is used to communicate their location to the phone. When they are outside of 30-50 feet of your phone, they would rely on other iPhones that are near them to receive that signal so that it can be sent to the Apple servers. In turn, then you would get this location via the Find My app.

If neither have been providing location updates (which appear to be sometime now), then either of the following would be true:

Neither were able to send their respective Bluetooth signal, or
There were never any iPhones nearby (not likely I would think.)

Just to be sure that you reset your AirTag properly, please take a look at the following support article just to rule out if you missed any step along the way: How to reset your AirTag - Apple Support

If that doesn't resolve the issue, and you know that the batteries are still good, your next step would be to contact Apple Support directly for further assistance with this matter. To do so, simply select the "Support" link on the lower left-hand side of this forum's web page.

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Answer 2

Mar 1, 2024 5:28 AM in response to rfinco

Simple answer is that they do not work and we all need to stop buying them until they fix the problem.

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Answer 3

rfinco Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 25, 2023 8:45 PM in response to Tesserax

@Tesserax,

Thank you for the reply. I replaced the batteries about a month ago. The Honolulu AirTag has been with me every day, generally withing three feet of my phone, since December 1st, including about 40 flights to at least six different states, yet it still showed Honolulu and "With you." The other one has been near me, although not throughout the day, and has been on at least 10 flights through half a dozen states since it last updated. Both devices have clearly been around many iPhones going through LAX, DEN, and PHX as my most common travel points, yet they remained stuck.

I did a full reset on Honolulu (last update December 1st 2022), and about 30 minutes later both AirTags updated their location for the first time in months. I have to question the value of a tracking device that only updates every 2-7 months, and only then when forced to do so.

Again, thank you, I appreciate your assistance.

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Answer 4

Tesserax

Level 10

152,672 points

Jun 26, 2023 7:45 PM in response to rfinco

Hmm, I'm afraid that I haven't a solid answer for you. One possibility is that these are defective units. I don't do as much traveling as you do, so I can't really relate my experience to yours. I use them with my car & ATV keys. So far, they do show up where I would expect them, but that's not saying much.

I guess I have to ask what is your primary goal for using these AirTags? Track your luggage, for example? If so, then you may want to consider getting something similar, but rely on GPS, and not Bluetooth.

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AirTag showing wrong location

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