Find nearby friends using an iPhone 15 with an unheralded feature found on the new phones

One of the things that Apple did to improve the iPhone 15 line was to replace the U1 Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip that has been included since the iPhone 11 series in 2019 with the second-generation UWB chip. In conjunction with AirTags and the Find My app, the UWB chip helps deliver more precise location tracking and the range on the new chip has been increased by up to three times from the first-gen component to a maximum distance of 50-60 meters (approximately 154-196 feet).

One of the unheralded new features on the iPhone 15 line allows you to use the second-gen UWB chip and the Precision Finding interface with the Find My app to locate a specific person who owns an iPhone 15 series model who is nearby. A video shared by Teknofilo (via 9to5Mac) shows how this works. The Precision Finding interface on the bottom left shows how many meters you are away from your target who is represented as a dot on the display. A giant arrow shows you where to go.

One problem with using this feature shows up 13 seconds into the video when the user, focusing on his iPhone screen, nearly runs into another person. When using the new UWB chip to find another person, you still need to be aware of your surroundings. To find a person using the Precision Finding interface, open the Find My app and tap on a name. If the Precision Finding feature is available for you to track him or her down, the Find: Nearby button will appear in the details card.

As for the AirTags, the current range using Precision Finding and the first UWB chip is 10-15 meters (32-49 feet). Eventually, AirTags 2 will be released with the new UWB chip which will result in users being able to use the Precision Finding interface to track down items that are longer distances away. But you'll have to have an iPhone with the new UWB chip which right now is limited to all four iPhone 15 models.