Apple has announced the activation of the Emergency SOS by Satellite feature for the iPhones. This is the first time an iPhone has shipped with direct satellite connectivity support. But this connectivity is not for communicating by phone or internet, but for emergencies. This Emergency SOS by Satellite feature allows iPhone 14 series users to call for help even in areas where there is no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.
This service is currently free in two countries, including Canada and the United States (US). Apple said the service is free for the first two years. After that, to get the service, users have to pay a nominal fee to the company. For now, users in Canada and the US can use the service if they are stuck in a zone with no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage to call for help.
That all one iPhone 14 what the user has to do is go to the Find My app and share his/her location via satellite. Apple said it would expand the service to other countries in December, including Germany, France, Ireland and the UK. It is definitely a service that can save lives. Only the iPhone 14 series can support this functionality as satellite connectivity hardware is required in the device. This means that satellite connectivity support cannot come through software updates for iPhone 13 series devices.
The iPhone 14 series is truly a groundbreaking smartphone series of Apple because it integrates many new useful features such as car crashes and fall detection. All these features will help save so many lives in the future. The great thing to see was that Apple managed to provide satellite connectivity on the iPhone 14 series so seamlessly. Usually you would think of a large antenna to send and receive signals from a satellite.
