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Apr 12, 2001
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With the launch of iOS 16.1, Apple rolled out a Emergency SOS via Satellite, which is designed to allow iPhone 14 owners to contact emergency services using satellite connectivity when no cellular or WiFi connection is available. The feature was put to the test in Alaska today, when a man became stranded in a rural area.

Emergency-SOS-via-Satellite-iPhone-YT.jpg

In the early hours of the morning on December 1, Alaska State Troopers received an alert that a man traveling by snow machine from Noorvik to Kotzebue had become stranded. The man was in a cold, remote location with no connectivity, and he activated the Emergency SOS via satellite feature on his iPhone 14 to alert authorities to his predicament.

Apple's Emergency Response Center worked with local search and rescue teams and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator to send out volunteer searchers directly to the GPS coordinates that were relayed to Apple using the emergency function.

The man was rescued successfully and there were no injuries. The area where he was located is remote and on the fringes of where satellite connectivity is available. Apple says that satellite connectivity might not work in places above 62° latitude, such as northern parts of Canada and Alaska, and Noorvik and Kotzebue are close to 69° latitude.

Troopers who helped with the rescue were "impressed with the accuracy and completeness of information included in the initial alert," with the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature designed to ask several questions ahead of when an alert is sent out to expedite rescue missions.

Emergency Satellite via SOS is available to all iPhone 14 users, and it can be activated when an emergency situation occurs and there is no WiFi or cellular connection available. The feature is free to use for two years, and Apple has not yet provided detail on how much it will cost going forward.

Satellite connectivity is available in North America at the current time, and it will soon expand to France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK.

Article Link: Apple's iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature Saves Stranded Man in Alaska
 

Fruit Stand

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Apr 25, 2016
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I've literally thought to my self camping not too far north from I live in Toronto and there is no cell service basically as soon as you drive into the park and its about an hour drive into the park before you reach the campground and there is no cell service from the entry point and on. If any accident were to happen like hitting wild life or anything like that I don't know how we would contact emergency services.

This shows the case use is there for the feature.
 

antiprotest

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Apr 19, 2010
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Troopers who helped with the rescue were "impressed with the accuracy and completeness of information included in the initial alert," with the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature designed to ask several questions ahead of when an alert is sent out to expedite rescue missions.

Although it sounds so PR/marketing, perhaps it's the way much of the article is written that makes this feel a little weird. I will just take it at face value and say I'm happy that this feature exists.
 

Nismo73

macrumors 65816
Jan 4, 2013
1,156
967
Without a doubt sometime next summer you’re gonna hear about people who were able to use this feature out west in National Parks where there’s no service and they got lost, or injured or something.
 

tenordrum

macrumors regular
Jan 26, 2019
161
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DC Beltway
No service occurs often when I was in the central Oregon high desert National Forest Service lands. cell coverage was spotty at best, even with boosters. I had to lend my cell booster to someone who had to travel an hour and a half in some challenging conditions. The IP14 feature would help replace some of those sat services such as offered by Garmin or Spot. Those services are not cheap for monthly fees.
 

Choco Taco

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Nov 23, 2022
615
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Well ... that's just amazing. Hopefully they can make the GPS signal even stronger as time goes on.

Although it sounds so PR/marketing, perhaps it's the way much of the article is written that makes this feel a little weird. I will just take it at face value and say I'm happy that this feature exists.
I think they were just impressed. I wouldn't look too much into it. I'm happy it exists as well.
 

BobSc

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Mar 29, 2020
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"Stranded". He should have prepared going out there. Not Rely on the Phone. If the environment is Hostile he should have the gear needed to Survive. Make a Fire, shelter, have food ect.. Think People living there going out everyday Don't prepare for events? Bah.
OMG. How very sad to read a comment like this. You know nothing of the circumstances. And arguing about people's preparedness is NOT what this thread is about. For whatever reason, he's stranded. It's done. He happens to have a new iphone and uses an incredible new tool from Apple to save his life. That's what this thread is about. It's about Apple and it's technology. It's not for so many to use any and every thread as an opportunity to spew your own personal agenda about anything and everything not pertinent to the thread.
 

wilberforce

macrumors 68030
Aug 15, 2020
2,883
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SF Bay Area
People might be interested in the 10,000 "saves" via Garmin satellite communicators (I have one) - it is a pretty interesting article (mixed in with a bit of marketing):


Of course the number of people who have a Garmin inReach is tiny compared to the number who have (or will have) an iPhone 14
 

MmkLucario

macrumors 6502
Sep 16, 2022
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Alaskan here. The state is so big that when you could drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks (two of the largest cities in Alaska) on either the Parks or the Glenn Highways, you lose cell service on the way. The highways I mentioned are small and winding roads. The satellite SOS feature on the iPhone 14s will be very helpful if something happens.
 
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MmkLucario

macrumors 6502
Sep 16, 2022
279
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.... only if you have an iPhone 14. What are the chances?

Sorry, but to me the "proper" thing to do would make this a software feature, and available to ALL iPhone users who were running OS 16. As it is....
Well, it’s probably a hardware issue, so even if you gave the option for iPhones running iOS 16, they probably can’t use the satellite SOS feature to begin with.
 
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