Since its inception, Apple’s $30 AirTag has proven to be a lifesaver for several people trying to locate their prized possessions. The object tracker proved to be a worthwhile investment for one photographer in Australia after it played a crucial role in reuniting the artist with their stolen gear, worth around $7,000.

Despite the occasional report of misuse, AirTags are a solid accessory for high-value items such as cars, backpacks, wallets, etc. Professional camera gear is no exception, as Graham Tait found out firsthand. Based in Sydney, the photographer was traveling by car when his equipment was stolen from his vehicle parked at a hotel. He said, “My car was broken into whilst we were traveling in the Flinders Ranges last night.”

Thankfully, Tait had an AirTag in his laptop bag and another one attached to his camera, both of which were stolen. The photographer was able to open the Find My app on his iPhone and immediately locate the lost items. With the help of local law enforcement agencies, he could safely recover all his stolen possessions, including a wallet, camera, laptop, and GoPro.

Background

If you aren’t familiar with how the AirTag works, it is an object tracker that uses Bluetooth and military-grade Ultra Wideband technologies so you can quickly and precisely locate your valuables down to the last foot. If your possessions and the AirTag(s) associated with them are lost, you can use the Apple Find My app to try and locate them. The Find My network relies on an interconnected mesh of Apple devices that passively scan their surroundings for lost devices and anonymously share the location with the respective owners.

Although there was a sharp uptick in cases where Apple’s object tracker was misused to stalk people, the Cupertino-based company is actively combatting it. The company has built anti-stalking measures into the product, and more are scheduled to be rolled out during the remainder of the year via OTA software updates.