Apple introduced an updated version of its MagSafe leather wallet today with new colors and support for an additional feature: tracking in the Find My app. Apple’s location tracking service recently expanded with the addition of AirTags, and now the company is apparently working some version of the same functionality into its more low-tech accessories.
That might seem like the continuous tracking AirTags offers, but Apple’s description points to something simpler. The company writes that the wallet “supports Find My, so you can be notified of your wallet’s last known location if it gets separated from your phone.” That’s helpful, but possibly not useful if someone moves your wallet after it’s separated.
Apple isn’t entirely clear why this is the case on its product page, but it’s possible what’s really happening is your iPhone is just noting when the MagSafe magnet is or isn’t attached to your phone. Your iPhone already plays a small animation when you attach a MagSafe product, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine it marking a GPS location in Find My when a MagSafe accessory is disconnected.
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There’s also an odd exception: in the fine print, Apple notes that the new Find My functionality isn’t supported on the Clear Case with MagSafe. The best guess here is that whatever unique ID your iPhone recognizes when you connect a MagSafe device might be blocked by a Clear Case. Why the Clear Case but not other MagSafe cases would keep Apple from knowing when a wallet is disconnected isn’t clear. That doesn’t make the new wallet less useful necessarily, but it does show it has limitations that a normal wallet with an AirTag or Tile shoved inside wouldn’t.
The Verge has reached out to Apple for an explanation of how the new Find My functionality works, and what exactly is happening with the Clear Case. We’ll update if we learn more.
The iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe is available now for $59.
