It was this guy they’ve supposedly saved. Go figure. ⬇️
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Apple's iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature Saves Stranded Man in Alaska
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I feel the issue comes in that this is a service which costs Apple money to maintain. That said, it's not something that people are going to need 24/7, but by the time you do want it, it won't be feasible to subscribe for it given that you won't have access to cellular in the first place. It's like travel insurance.
I suspect Apple may try to roll it into their existing Apple One bundle. In a sense, customers will still pay for it, just not directly, and Apple presumably makes some money that goes towards maintaining said service.
It reads that way to me too, but after discussing the Apple Watch Ultra with people, I've come to learn how incredibly irresponsible some people are, and actually expect devices like this to exist as a crutch for them to an engage in dangerous activities, and then burden other people with rescuing them.
Great new feature. Hopefully I’ll don’t need it but ya never know, eh.
It’s sad that some hate Apple so much that no matter what they do, they’re going to criticize it. I guess it doesn’t help that this article was linked in Android Authority, so yeah there’s that.
I’ll criticize Apple when they deserve it and have done so but this isn’t the time. This is something they did really good and it’s going to save more lives.
I’ll criticize Apple when they deserve it and have done so but this isn’t the time. This is something they did really good and it’s going to save more lives.
Too bad this feature came out so late. Apple could have saved Wilson.
That's simply not possible. This is a hardware requirement. The iPhone 14 has a completely different Qualcomm cellular chip which offers the satellite capability. Previous iPhones don't have the cellular chip capable of utilizing such.
Nowhere in the article does it say that he didn’t have survival gear. But why sit and wait for your loved ones to get concerned, notify emergency services, have them search for you, etc. when you can ‘dial in’ and just let them know your snow machine has broken down, give them your exact location, and you need some help? Are you saying the guy should drag along a second snow machine in case your first one breaks down. How about taking two extra snow machines in case the first two break down? Some people see conspiracy in everything.
It’s preposterous that one person out of 10s of millions of iPhone 14 owners would have a need to use this feature? To believe otherwise would assume that Apple didn’t spent a boat load of money to develop a feature that has no value to anyone just to setup a PR stunt. /s
Well, that says it all! And it managed to send a signal 5º above recommended max. Engineering at it's best, kudos Apple!
This statement gets my vote for the most cynical comment on MR! How very sad.
Apple wouldn’t have to step in and provide this type of functionality if the government had this in place.
For all the negative comments - I used to travel with a Spot messenger in the mountains in western Canada, and now have a Garmin inreach that is always with us when we're going to be out of cell coverage. I used my Spot once - on a road with no cell phone coverage when we came across what turned out to be a fatal vehicle collision, allowing us to call 911 without a 30 minute drive out to cell service. I use my Garmin for it's non-emergency capabilities all the time.
There are 1000's of km / miles of roads around the world not under cell phone coverage. This is an extreme example of a common problem that over time will be addressed as more cell phones contain this tech.
I would expect this will turn into a paid feature, like InReach / Spot, and if they can implement the simple 2 way non-emergency communications those systems are capable of, I would happily carry one less device when I'm out backpacking or just driving somewhere without coverage.
There are 1000's of km / miles of roads around the world not under cell phone coverage. This is an extreme example of a common problem that over time will be addressed as more cell phones contain this tech.
I would expect this will turn into a paid feature, like InReach / Spot, and if they can implement the simple 2 way non-emergency communications those systems are capable of, I would happily carry one less device when I'm out backpacking or just driving somewhere without coverage.
It just highlights these Gee whiz bang solutions have practical implications.
What's preposterous is this kind of comment. Very sick and very sad.
Sad indeed.
A human being was likely saved from death and it's a race to the bottom with asinine/inane juvenile comments here.
Apparently that helps some people to feel better about themselves.
I assume then when you drive, in your vehicle you keep blankets, water, food, medical kit, generator, tents, firewood in case you get stranded at the side of the road?
The dude was on a snow machine, so odds are he was dressed warm. He probably thought he had a full tank of gas, or that his spare gas can was full, or some sort of unforeseen mechanical issue popped up.
How many of us check the tire pressure on the spare tire? We get a flat, go to put the spare tire on, and realize the spare is just as flat?
It happens to the best of us.
It is only "insignificant" because of an extant satellite network that is actually incredibly expensive.
I don't know what country you're in, but, uh, given how rabidly extreme the US (and a handful of Euro countries, too, even) have become with the whole "I hate anything that has public sector or government in it, grumble grumble, I hate taxes" thing, we can't even properly fund schools (they literally have bake sales to buy books, I am not kidding, even in very well-off areas with large, incredibly wealthy tax bases, schools are doing fundraisers for the very basics), access to even basic life-saving health care, etc so I don't think we're going to have a chance to funding some sat comm infrastructure unless it can be used as a weapon, in which case, well, it's guaranteed.
For the record, I wasn't criticising Apple.
I'm just thinking that it would make little sense to have a Verizon and an AT&T 911 response centre that will link you up with emergency responders in your area, nor would it be great if you could only call 911 if your carrier had reception and you would have to pay for it (and couldn't call with a prepaid without credits). I think overall we agree that it's a good thing that 911 works as long as your phone turns on and there is any network in the area.
The government doesn't provide the phones or the networks, although public bodies usually provide the call centres and the people operating them (at least here in the UK).
I'm not yet convinced emergency calls via satellite are an absolute public necessity and you could make the argument that therefore it's fine that it's a service provided by private companies for a fee. I think in same cases, eg where you travel a lot, something like a Garmin device has its value and it's more than fair that Garmin or Apple would want to be paid for it.
But I think we could also conclude that in some cases there is a good public policy argument that people should be able to call for help regardless and that therefore parts of what Apple is doing now should be replaced by a public provider and an obligation for phone providers to be compatible with it.
There's of course also always the possibility that Apple could have tried to drive an industry standard with burden sharing across providers. I know that doesn't make much sense from a shareholder point of view, but from a corporate social responsibility point of view, which is also why it wouldn't happen without a government mandate.
I doubt the iPhone service would be a good replacement if you were intentionally going to wild areas. The Garmin and similar devices are optimised for satellite communication and are ruggedized. The iPhone system would be a good backup though, and good for emergencies in places that aren't so wild but still don't have mobile phone reception (this describes a lot of Scotland, where I live). I guess we'll see how much the Apple service costs - hopefully not so much that it would be prohibitive if you have a dedicated sat communicator. And maybe the price will come down somewhat for all the services compared to now as they become mainstream.