We recently noted that Apple has begun releasing firmware updates for AirTags. This rollout was supposed to be gradual and end on April 9 – but this did not happen –
AirTag Firmware Update
We announced the update last week.
New version of the software build AirTag has build number 2A73 and firmware version 2.0.73. This is compared to the previous firmware version 2.0.61, which was released with “bug fixes and other improvements” back in October.
To avoid straining the servers with all the AirTags at the same time as the worldwide update, Apple is planning a phased rollout, with different serial number ranges being updated on different dates. Macworld says it was supposed to start on March 19 and end on April 9.
error”>Apple date format error
What actually happened was that all the AirTags in the world were actually updated on the same day, and iSoftware Updates on Twitter stated the reason: Apple was using the wrong date format.
Apple appears to have accidentally set the AirTag 2.0.73 firmware deployment dates to “m/d/24” instead of “m/d/2024” which was used in previous versions and which the AirTag update system uses as a date format. As a result, AirTags consider the deployment dates to be in year 24 and simply move to the 100% deployment package.
This explains why all AirTags receive it.
Some have noted that the two-digit year should not have been accepted at all, but instead throws a validation error. We'll just leave it here …
Photo by Onur Binay on Unsplash
