Key Takeaways
- iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches can use GPS to provide accuracy within several feet, sometimes more or less.
- At short ranges, iPhones can use ultra-wideband to narrow location to within a few inches or centimeters.
- Devices limited to Wi-Fi or cellular may only provide accuracy to within a few dozen feet, sometimes even further away.
While it’s likely that a lot of people only use Apple’s Find My for tracking AirTags and other Apple gear they own, a major focus of the app is on tracking (consenting) friends and family. You can double-check that someone’s safe when they’re late, for example, or make it easier for your group to rendezvous somewhere, like a theme park or downtown Manhattan. If you’re keeping track of your child, geofencing can notify you whenever they come and go from school.
But how accurate is Find My when it comes to tracking people, really? That depends on the devices involved, their settings, their surrounding environment, and Apple’s baked-in limitations.
AirTags aren’t magic, but it is helpful
The first thing to say that if you’re tracking someone using an AirTag — say, one you put in your kindergartner’s backpack — don’t expect much unless you’re very close by. When you’re remote, an AirTag can only transmit its location by way of Bluetooth, sending anonymous pings to nearby iPhones and iPads, which in turn upload the data to iCloud. You’ll only get relative location info at best, and if there aren’t any iPhones or iPads around, you’ll only get an AirTag’s last known coordinates. iCloud refreshes AirTag data periodically regardless, so even in an Apple Store, that info could be a minute or two old.
When you’re within a few dozen feet, however, AirTags can be extremely accurate. That’s because they support a feature called Precision Finding, which takes advantage of the ultra-wideband (UWB) radios on some Apple devices (mostly flagship iPhones). It operates in real-time, and it’s accurate to within a few inches or centimeters. On top of that it supports both vertical and horizontal tracking, so you can tell if an AirTag is on a floor above or below you, or even under a couch pillow.
How accurate is Find My tracking with iPhones?
Relies on GPS satellites
Tracking someone’s iPhone tends to be reliable. Assuming nothing is disabled, iPhones have access to Wi-Fi, cellular, and GPS for calculating location, the last being ideal — GPS satellites not only cover much of the globe, but provide real-time accuracy to within several feet. Often, the only limitation is how frequently Apple servers share that data — it can be once every second, but potentially longer. Just be warned that an iPhone normally needs Wi-Fi or cellular coverage to talk to iCloud, and scenery can interfere with GPS signals. If you’re next to a mountain or skyscraper, GPS accuracy could plummet or vanish.
GPS satellites provide real-time accuracy to within several feet.
If both you and another person have an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16, you can switch on Precision Finding in Find My to get even better accuracy. As with AirTags, though, this only works within a few dozen feet. You’ll need to navigate to their general vicinity first. The other person also has to consent to your Precision Finding request.
If GPS and/or Precision Finding aren’t options for some reason, accuracy tends to be rough. Wi-Fi location is based on the hotspot you’re connected to, and of course, you could be dozens of feet away from a router. Cellular location, meanwhile, is based on nearby cell towers, which are often even further away, but do at least provide triangulation.
How accurate is Find My tracking with other Apple devices?
Don’t get your hopes up
If the person you’re tracking is wearing an Apple Watch, accuracy may be comparable to iPhones, but that depends on the model. While all Watch models have GPS, only some have cellular, namely Ultras and more expensive Series variants. A Wi-Fi + GPS Watch can only update its location whenever it’s connected to an iPhone or directly to a hotspot — if a person leaves their iPhone at home while they go on a trail ride, you’ll likely see their iPhone’s location instead.
There’s a similar split with iPads, most of which have GPS, but only some of which have both cellular and Wi-Fi.
Some older iPads only include GPS on cellular configurations.
In most cases, Macs can’t do any better than Wi-Fi, and of course, even MacBooks aren’t meant to travel with you constantly. No one takes their MacBook Air on a quick jog. At best, you’ll be able to tell if someone is in a particular building, and if they’re using a desktop system like an iMac or Mac Studio, they could be out of the country, for all you know.
FAQ
Q: Why don’t Macs have GPS?
Probably the tradeoff in cost and power consumption. While built-in GPS would have its uses, particularly theft prevention, it would also cost Apple more in parts and design work while draining MacBook batteries faster. Since most people need to connect a Mac to Wi-Fi or Ethernet anyway, GPS is likely redundant in Apple’s eyes.
Q: Can I share Find My location info via satellite?
Yes, but only if you have an iPhone 14, 15, or 16 running iOS 16.1 or later, and you’re living in a compatible country. You’ll have to trigger the option manually in the Find My app, and it only works when no cellular or Wi-Fi signal is available. Moreover, you’re restricted to doing this every 15 minutes — it’s really intended for rescue situations or wilderness treks.
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