Even if they limit you to x amount of texts a day/month using the satellites, it can really save and help a lot of people.
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Apple and Globalstar Rumored to Announce Satellite Connectivity Feature for iPhone 14 at September 7 Event
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Coverage in a lot of rural areas an be spotty. My SO and I routinely travel to the mountains in rural PA or lower Eastern Shore of MD and the coverage we get in some of these places is spotty, if non existent.
People who do offshore fishing charters (we do these where no cell phone coverage exists)? Hunters and outdoor enthusiasts who hike, fish, or explore the back country for recreation.
Add the automatic crash detection that's "rumored" to be coming out and it has the potential to save lives. Say, when a car crashes over a guardrail or into a ravine where no cell phone coverage is available. The user can text emergency services and the phone will send them GPS location information.
I have a heart condition, and the ability to summons emergency services in areas we vacation that are on the fringes of cell coverage could possibly save my rumpus. As opposed to my SO walking around looking for a cell signal like Jesse Pinkman in Breaking bad.
This is something I would REALLY want to have.
I would love to have this for my backpacking trips. We take a sat communicator right now and it costs 30-50 a month for use when active and $4 to just park it.
What problem does this solve? Oh, I don’t know, that annoying thing called DEATH? Ever see the show, “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”?
I’ll be switching to T-Mobile for the iPhone 14 in the hopes I can use BOTH satellite networks.
I’ll be switching to T-Mobile for the iPhone 14 in the hopes I can use BOTH satellite networks.
You’re truly unimaginative if you think this. 1. That apple will ignore 50% of its American consumer base. 2. That Apple will ignore advancement in cellular tech. 3. That they aren’t creative enough to market this.
Plus, it’s not JUST for rural areas. Everyone vacations or travels or has family in areas that aren’t covered by cell reception. Having a car break down on a highway with no reception is all the ad would need to be. Sailing off the coast and a storm is coming. Countless ads.
Apple can market this just like it does the Apple Watch. Health and safety centered. “It just works.”
I thought we were 5+ years out from this tech. The fact it’s discussed as launching next year is fantastic.
Some of you act like you’ve never had to wait to send a text message because you were in a dead spot or on a hike. Get outside, people.
Hiking/Camping trip emergencies with no cellular access.
Wow! I thought I was going to be able to pass up this upgrade cycle but if I can text (or receive texts) while remote and out of cell phone range, my wife would be happy when she is checking on me during a bike ride in the mountains! I have a Garmin SOS device that is a clumsy texting tool and has a $15/month subscription, but this might be a way better option.
Given Musk and Apple have a...well...not great past, we'll be ending up with an Apple competitor getting direct starlink access on handsets at some point in the future, leaving Apple to either not have that ability at all, or use someone like Globalstar, who've got a vastly slower network. Globalstar is absolutely fine if its only for emergency calls, but when we inevitably move to satellite for data and standard calls then Apples got a problem.
nice, but am I going to upgrade my 13PM because of it - nah, another year without that feature I shall survive 
Yeah exactly. Having just gotten back from vacation in the upper peninsula of Michigan (and liking to explore nature regularly), I’m all about this. Cell service was basically only available in remotely scattered towns and not in between and not in the parks.
Exactly. There's a sizable market for GPS products and services from brands like Garmin and others. I've looked into getting the mini Garmin device for our outdoor family activities where we have no reception. At a minimum of $350 for an entry-level unit, this would be a very big deal. Especially if you've ever looked into the service fees and requirements. I get that many people don't understand why satellite connectivity in an iPhone is significant, but it sure is.
Just this year alone, I have been to several cell signal dead zones:
- Back country skiing in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes
- Several famous hiking trails in Kauai
- Hiking trails and campgrounds at Yosemite
- Boating in the northern California Coasts
Is it enough for me to upgrade from iPhone 13 Pro to iPhone 14 Pro? Probably not without a generous upgrade promo, but it's a great carrot nevertheless.
Yep. And think of national parks ... we were just in Joshua Tree for a couple days and had no reception through much of the park. We also spend time at a lake home in Northern CA and the part of the lake we spend the most time on has no reception. Personally, I've been hoping for this feature for years.
I live in a rural area next to a small city of 50,000 we have coverage downtown but 5 minutes outside of that you get nothing this would be another big win like Starlink was for us. Plus cruise ship coverage as well as extreme outdoor enthusiasts like myself planning to climb part of Mt.Everest next summer and with this I could avoid buying a sat phone.
Argh! MR you ruined the keynote again! I’m leaving forever!!!
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Wow talk about jinxing yourself and setting up the irony where you will need it.
If it is free, it doesn't have to solve a huge problem. It is like some of the Apple Watch heart features, most people haven't discovered they'd had a heart attack using it, but you are essentially getting some free insurance.
Think about: hurricane hits, cell network is down. Earthquake or any other disaster. Most people will never need it (thankfully) but it buys them a bit of peace of mind at no extra cost (over and above the new phone).
Plus this is just the start - will it expand beyond this over time so that you might not need VZW or ATT or T-Mobile?
I work in Search & Rescue in California. If this happens, it will have a profound impact on wilderness safety. A small minority of people actively use InReach and SPOT to solve this problem, but a phone is something everyone has (or should have) with them. We have ~3-6 InReach activations per summer day in the California backcountry. Those are the lucky ones. For those sick and injured without an InReach, it can take days to locate them after a missing persons report is filed.
There are also many traffic accidents in remote areas reported via InReach. More lives saved.
I suspect you'll have a significant number of iPhone/Globalstar life safety reports rolling in every day, just in California...
There are also many traffic accidents in remote areas reported via InReach. More lives saved.
I suspect you'll have a significant number of iPhone/Globalstar life safety reports rolling in every day, just in California...
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Yeah. I was at fairly popular tourist sites (in UP terms) with hundreds or possibly low thousands of other people in the park at the same time (Pictured Rocks, Taquahemnon Falls) and no service on either Verizon or ATT.
If I had a daughter and she went hiking or perhaps drove between two cities (where there was dessert or nothing much in between) like for college, say between LA and Phoenix I would upgrade her so FAST to the iPhone 14 it would make your head spin.