This YouTuber Turned an Apple AirTag into a Slim Wallet Tracker

At its Spring Loaded event last month, Apple finally released its item-tracking device: the AirTag. While interested shoppers instantly noted that it doesn’t have a convenient hole to attach directly to a key fob, an AirTag owner found that the tracker sticks out when placed in their wallet. So they decided to do something about it.

AirTag as a wallet card

Opening the AirTag’s battery cover, Andrew Ngai noticed (via 9to5Mac) how the battery is stacked with the motherboard. Then he decided to rearrange the plate and the battery in such a way that they coexist side by side. In this way, the AirTag will no longer be bulky and can easily fit in your wallet.

After successfully separating the battery from the board, Andrew designed and 3D printed the card casing to place the AirTag. Andrew then soldered the wires and voila, the new AirTag card is ready! You can watch the full video demonstrating the process on Andrew’s YouTube channel below:

Of course, while this may seem tempting to many, it requires some basic DIY experience in handling electronics. Knowing how to weld is a requirement in case you are planning to replicate this and make a slim AirTag (like Tile Slim) for yourself. And well, there is also a caveat in this project: it engages the speaker. If interested, Andrew has generously shared the card cabinet 3D printable raw file and you can download it from here.

While this is not something I would call perfect, it is a nice DIY project that has solved your problem with the tracker. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters in a personal project. If you don’t want to go through all these hassles, you can buy an Apple AirTag alternative like Tile Slim that fits in your wallet.

Featured image courtesy: Andrew Ngai / YouTube