How to Use AirTags With Older iPhones (and Even a Few iPads)

It's not quite a precise as with newest iPhones, but the audible sound might help you find your lost item

By
Jeremy Laukkonen
Jeremy Laukkonen
Jeremy Laukkonen
Writer
  • Shoreline Community College

Jeremy Laukkonen is a former writer for Lifewire. When not researching and testing computers, game consoles or smartphones, he stays up-to-date on the myriad complex systems that power battery electric vehicles .

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Updated on September 27, 2023
Reviewed by
Jessica Kormos
Jessica Kormos
Reviewed by Jessica Kormos
  • Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Jessica Kormos is a writer and editor with 15 years' experience writing articles, copy, and UX content for Tecca.com, Rosenfeld Media, and many others.
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What to Know

  • You can use AirTags with old iPhones, but you won’t be able to use the Precision Finding feature.
  • To find your AirTags: Open Find My, tap Items, tap the lost item, and go to the location indicated on the map.
  • In the last known location, tap the lost item in Find My --> tap Play Sound to have the AirTag sound a tone.

This article explains how to use AirTags with older iPhones and even a few older-model iPads.

How to Set Up AirTags With Older iPhones (and Even a Few Older iPad Models)

You can set up an AirTag with an older iPhone, but there are some limits. Your iPhone needs to be running iOS 14.5 or newer, Find My needs to be turned on, you need to turn on Bluetooth, and you need to turn on Location Services.

If you have an iPad running iPadOS 14.5 or later and meet the other requirements, you can also use the iPad to set up AirTags.

Here’s how to set up AirTags with an older iPhone:

  1. Make sure your iPhone has Find My, Bluetooth, and Location Services all turned on.

  2. Remove the wrapping from your AirTag and pull out the tab to activate the battery.

    Your AirTag will play a sound if it’s ready to set up. If you don’t hear a sound, make sure the battery tag was fully removed.

  3. Hold your AirTag close to your iPhone or iPad.

    See a message that more than one AirTag was detected? Move your other AirTags away from your phone so only one is close to your phone at a time.

  4. Tap Connect.

  5. Select an item name from the provided list, or select Custom Name if you don’t see a name you want to use.

  6. Tap Continue.

    Setting up a name for an AirTag on an iPhone.

  7. Tap Continue again to register the AirTag with your Apple ID/Apple Account.

    In some versions of iOS and iPadOs, this option is called "Apple ID."

  8. Wait for the setup process to finish, then tap Done.

    Final steps to set up AirTags on iPhone.

  9. Repeat this process if you have additional AirTags.

How to Use AirTags With Older Phones

You can use AirTags with your older iPhone through the Find My app just like newer iPhones, except the Precision Finding feature will be locked out. That means you can use your older iPhone to put an AirTag into Lost Mode, view a lost AirTag’s location on a map, and rename AirTags.

You may want to provide a phone number and message when you turn on Lost Mode for your AirTags, as you won’t be able to use Precision Finding to pinpoint your AirTags once you arrive at their location.

Here’s how to find your AirTags with an older iPhone:

  1. Open the Find My app on your iPhone.

  2. Tap items.

  3. Tap the missing item on the map for more information.

  4. Tap Directions, then go to the location indicated on the map.

    Finding an AirTag on an iPhone.

  5. Once you arrive at the last known location, open Find My and tap the missing item on the map again.

  6. Tap Play Sound.

  7. If your AirTag is within Bluetooth range, it will play a tone.

  8. If the AirTag doesn’t play a tone, change your position while remaining in the vicinity of the last known location of the AirTag and tap Play Sound again. You can also tap Stop Sound if you find the item while the sound is still active.

    Using sound feature in AirTag on iPhone.

About AirTag Compatability With Older iPhones

AirTags utilize Apple’s U1 chip to provide very accurate location information, allowing you to locate a lost AirTag. The catch is a lot of iPhones don’t include the U1 chip.

Despite this, you can still use AirTags with older iPhones, iPads, and even Macs. The drawback? You can’t access all the functionality.

You can also set up AirTags with an older iPhone, so you can use AirTags even if you haven’t updated your iPhone in a while or have a second-generation iPhone SE lacking a U1 chip.

The iPhone X and older iPhones, for example, don’t have it, and it was also left out of the second-generation iPhone SE even though the chip was already around when that phone was released. No iPads have it, either.

The most significant difference between using AirTags with older iPhones and the newer iPhones (with the U1 chip) is you can’t use the Precision Finding feature. Without the U1 chip, your phone can’t help other people find their lost AirTags if you find yourself near a lost AirTag.

You can still check a lost AirTag for a message if your older iPhone has NFC, but your phone won’t automatically sense a lost AirTag and ping Apple with its location if you don’t have the M1 chip.

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