New Apple product appears on invite for iPhone 12 event

If you look at the invitation that Apple disseminated yesterday for next week's new product event called "Speed," there might have been a hidden message in the image accompanying the invite. While many out there saw the Apple logo in the center of a small circle, which was placed inside a larger circle, and then placed inside an even larger circle, there is more to the image than meets the eye. A tipster pointed out the similarites on Twitter.

That small circle with the Apple logo inside happens to resemble a render of Apple's eagerly-awaited Apple AirTag accessory. So in addition to the four iPhone 12 models we could see introduced next Tuesday, the AirTags tracking system might finally meet the light of day as well. Last month there were several reports that the AirTags have been undergoing mass production. Speaking of which, highly touted TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted earlier this year that Apple will produce 10 million AirTags this year.

The Tags are attached to a key chain and then placed on a briefcase, a bicycle, a dog collar, and more. In conjunction with the Find My app and the U1 ultra-wideband, or UWB chip placed inside the iPhone 11 series, lost items that have an AirTag attached can be found by an iPhone owner. If the product is indeed introduced during the October 13th event, Apple will no doubt include a video to show how it works. The chip sends out short distance radio waves using a Time-of-Flight system. These waves bounce off of a subject and return to the phone allowing it to provide the user with very accurate directions to help find the missing tag and the item it is connected to.

Leaked code discovered last year included directions to an iPhone user using AirTags to find a missing item. The string of code said, "Walk around several feet and move your iPhone up and down until a balloon comes into view." Previously leaked images showed a 3D red balloon and a 2D orange balloon that will apparently surface on an iPhone screen. when an AirTags user moves closer to a tagged item. The tag, which reportedly is equipped with replaceable batteries, can have a feature called "Lost mode" enabled. This setting allows the iPhone user who found the tag (and the item it is connected to) to retrieve contact information for the owner of the discovered tag so that he can get contact the owner and arrange to send him his property back.

A video that Apple inadvertently left up on the internet for a brief period of time this year showed that users will be able to search for AirTags even when offline. A feature named Offline Finding can be toggled on to help an iPhone and AirTags to be found when not connected to Wi-Fi or Cellular.

So besides the four 5G enabled iPhone 12 models that we expect to see Apple unwrap next Tuesday (starting at 1 pm ET/10 am PT), Apple itself appears to be telling us to be prepared for the introduction of its new tracking system.

Apple still has some new products that will probably not be introduced until next year including the AirPods 3. A less ambitious version of the AirPower wireless charging pad designed for the iPhone 12 line might also be announced this coming Tuesday. If not, the accessory could become official sometime early next year.