Apple’s new Siri Remote lacks U1 locator to help find it in your couch

Apple’s new Siri Remote lacks a U1 chip that could’ve acted as a locator to help find it in your couch cushions, Apple confirmed today.

The all-new Siri Remote features an innovative clickpad control that offers five-way navigation for better accuracy, and is also touch-enabled for the fast directional swipes Apple TV users love. The outer ring of the clickpad supports an intuitive circular gesture that turns it into a jog control — perfect for finding a scene in a movie or show. And with its one-piece aluminum design, the new Siri Remote fits more comfortably in a user’s hand.

The new Siri Remote also has a power button that controls a TV’s power, and another for mute, making it the only remote needed while enjoying TV. Using Siri, customers can easily search for specific shows or movies, control smart home accessories, check sports scores or the weather, and much more.

Sean Hollister for The Verge:

Apple confirmed to us that the U1 locator chip, which uses pulses of ultra-wideband (UWB) radio to broadcast its precise location, won’t appear in the Siri Remote.

Theoretically, Apple could build an ecosystem where any Apple device can easily find any other Apple device… But for now, you’ll primarily just be using your phone to find AirTags, not other gadgets, except perhaps your future car.

MacDailyNews Take: The 2nd generation Siri Remote is 1.4-inches (35mm) wide. Apple’s new AirTag trackers are 1.26 inches (31.9 mm) in diameter. You know what to do.

We bet many accessory companies will make, if they aren’t making them already, cases for the new Siri Remote (and the old) that have a nice pocket just waiting for AirTag insertion.