Elevation Lab’s TimeCapsule offers up to a decade of battery life for AirTags, trading size for longevity

A third-party accessory from Elevation Lab introduces a multi-year battery solution for Apple’s AirTags, addressing the inconvenience of annual replacements and appealing to users prioritising endurance over compactness.

Apple’s AirTag 2 may have brought better range and a louder speaker, but its battery life remains much the same as the first model: roughly a year before the coin cell needs replacing. That has prompted renewed interest in a third-party accessory from Elevation Lab that swaps the standard battery arrangement for two AA cells and pushes endurance towards 10 years, according to the company and recent coverage from 9to5Toys and Ars Technica.

The product, called TimeCapsule, is designed for both AirTag generations and is meant for use cases where long battery life matters more than compact size. Elevation Lab says the accessory delivers more than 14 times the capacity of the standard CR2032 setup and is built from a fibre-reinforced composite with CNC-machined screws. The company also claims an IP69 waterproof rating, which would make it suitable for harsher conditions such as luggage, vehicles and other items exposed to moisture or dust.

The main trade-off is obvious: the case adds bulk. Still, for users with multiple AirTags spread across bags, cars and equipment, the reduction in battery maintenance may outweigh the extra size. Elevation Lab also sells a smaller version rated for about 5 years rather than 10, giving buyers a choice between endurance and a less cumbersome design.

For now, the accessory remains one of the few ways to address a basic limitation of AirTag hardware: Apple does not offer a rechargeable battery, and the annual replacement cycle can become tedious at scale. In that context, TimeCapsule is less an elegant refinement than a practical workaround, but one that may appeal to users who value longevity over minimalism.