We have a new rumor from our friend Ming-Chi Kuo. Today he has not talked about the iPhone 9 or the new aiPads Pro. This time it is the turn of Apple's new keychain, the long-awaited and delayed AirTags.
And I say delayed because they have been delayed a lot in time. Many of us thought that this new device would be carried by Tim Cook in his pocket at the last Keynote last September and that he was going to show it while saying that "One more thing ...", but we were left with the desire. It seems that we will finally see it soon.
Kuo assures today that Shanghai-based manufacturer Universal Scientific Industrial will begin mass-supplying Apple's new AirTags in the second quarter of this year, reaching to manufacture tens of millions of units by the end of this 2020.
In a Kuo research note with TF International Securities, it is assured that this manufacturer will be the main supplier of future Apple keychains, with 60 percent of its total production. The AirTag contains a printed circuit with the battery and Apple's U1 chip with ultra-wideband support.
Several rumors suggest that we will soon have a new presentation by Apple, to show us the new iPhone 9 and the new iPad Pro, presumably on March 31. Maybe this time if Tim Cook takes the AirTag out of his pocket.
Although if the delivery deadlines are certain and they begin to be supplied between the second and third quarters of the year, their presentation could be delayed until WWDC 2020 in June. Perhaps it also depends on the rate of manufacture, a question currently due to the Coronavirus epidemic.
The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro are also equipped with the U1 chip with Ultra Wideband, that according to Apple's website, "will lead to new and surprising capabilities." Interactivity with AirTags may be one of them. There is less to prove it.
