Your AirTag is getting an update, but as always no one knows what it does

If you own one or more AirTag device trackers, there’s a new update rolling out to your devices as you read this. But when you’ll get it—and what’s in it—is a mystery.

As reported by MacRumors, the firmware update 2A73 (2.0.73) began rolling out Tuesday. Unlike iOS updates, for example, the AirTag gets these updates on a staggered basis, which means some users will have got it right away while others will have to wait anywhere from one to three weeks. The AirTag firmware rollout proceeds as follows:

• March 19: 1 percent of users get the update
• March 26: 10 percent of users get the update
• April 2: 25 percent of users get the update
• April 9: 100 percent of users get the update

Sadly, there’s no way to know which cohort you’re in until the update arrives. Nor can you force an AirTag to install an update even if one is available. Instead, you simply make sure the AirTag is in range of its companion iPhone and wait. You can however see which version you currently have, by opening the Find My app, going to the Items tab, selecting your AirTag, and then tapping its name.

As for the contents of the firmware update, that remains a mystery for now. By comparison with the notoriously taciturn AirPods firmware release notes, Apple’s AirTags notes are positively effusive. It’s just that the latest update hasn’t yet been added to the list.

Sometimes AirTags firmware updates are designed to address bugs, such as 2.0.36 resolving “an issue with the accelerometer not activating in certain scenarios.” But they can add small new features or useful tweaks, so it will be interesting to see which category this one falls into.