About sixteen months ago, I wrote a post warning that if you replace the CR2032 battery in an AirTag with a battery that has a bitterant coating on it, it won’t work. I learned this lesson the hard way when I traveled to Italy and discovered while abroad that I had the wrong type of battery. The bitterant coating makes the battery taste bad if you put it in your mouth, and thus it discourages kids from swallowing them, but they somehow also caused a problem with an AirTag.
I’m happy to report that you can now have the best of both worlds. The page on Apple’s website that previously warned you not to use these batteries now actually encourages you to use a battery with a bitterant coating as long as it says that it works with the AirTag:
To further discourage accidental ingestion, use a bitterant-coated CR2032 battery, like the Duracell 2032 Lithium Coin Battery with Bitter Coating. Look for packaging that states "Compatible with Apple AirTag". Some CR2032 batteries with bitterant coatings might not work with AirTag or other battery-powered products.
I first learned about this change only recently when Schlick Jones posted a comment on my original post saying that the batteries were working great for him even though I had such trouble with them last year. That led me to check out the Apple website and find the above new language.
Thus, you can now purchase a CR2032 battery that is both child-safe and AirTag-safe, such as this pack of 9 batteries from Amazon for only $12.28. You can easily tell that you are using the right kind of battery by looking at the package. It will say at the top that it is Compatible with the Apple AirTag:
I presume that Duracell and Apple worked together on this solution, and it is great that they did so.
