Apple Air Tag Teardown

ID: 218935

Description: Full Teardown of Apple’s Air tag tracking device.

This is a first generation Apple AirTag. Released in 2021, this coin shaped device is a helpful device for people tracking valuable lost items for security and protection against theft, but the AirTag has been criticized for privacy concerns. Either way, mine has reached the end of its life, so, I figured I’d do a teardown of it.
The AirTag features a CR2032 lithium cell battery that is easy to replace by twisting the metal backplate off.
Thanks to Ifixit for this first image.

To begin disassembly of your AirTag, slowly twist the back metal plate off of the plastic case to reveal the battery compartment. (I already took the battery out).

Use an opening pick or small flathead screwdriver to carefully unfasten the clips holding the two plastic cases together.
Next, you can lift the back plastic piece off of the front piece of plastic to reveal the black and gold PCB down below.

Use an opening pick to remove the PCB from the front plastic case.
The PCB is encased in a plastic shell with the antenna coil on top. To remove the PCB, carefully slide an opening pick around the edge, and desolder or break off the four connections to the PCB. The connections from the PCB to the antenna are small and difficult to desolder, so I broke off the plastic. This teardown has now become destructive…

Here is the round PCB responsible for the device being able to work.
Some of the main chips On the back (main side) of the board:
Apple U1 ultra-wide and transceiver chip (largest one on the board.)
Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 Bluetooth low-energy SoC with an NFC controller integrated.
GigaDevice GD25LE32D 32 Mb serial NOR flash Chip
There are some diodes on the front side and a Bosch Sensortec BMA28x 3-axis accelerometer chip too.

Thank you for viewing. I hope that this teardown is interesting to anyone wanting to know what the inside of their AirTag looks like.

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