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iPhone 13 Satellite Support Rumor Disputed, Likely for Additional 5G Spectrum
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Whether it on the near term iPhone roadmap or not does not mean that there isn't a market for it. There is a lot of geography out here with limited or no coverage and there are people willing to pay the price. Most of that geography will never see terrestrial infrastructure to service it.
Absolutely not happening in the timeframe quoted (2024). Aside from the spectrum issues already mentioned, there are hardware issues that make this rumor just silly. There is a reason that current satellite communicator devices are large, bulky, power-hungry, and slow. These limitations might be mitigated in the next decade, but putting this functionality in an iPhone-sized and -powered package by 2024 is not happening.
Then get a satellite phone. Do you know how much a sat phone costs? Do you know how expensive it is for satellite service? There is no way this could happen with an iPhone. I've never trusted Kuo.
🙄 satellite receivers over USB C port on the iPhone. Come on Apple. What is more practical for the end user day to day.
I thought that was a real stretch, to include LEO comm on the new iPhone. Looking at the available options for LEO, and their MASSIVE STALK PHALLIC antennas, yeah, no... Someone suggested an add-on/plugin antenna but that would be really hideous, and make people laugh even harder at the iPhone (KIDDING!!!)
That frequency band is pretty busy with a lot of other occupants for a lot of other purposes, and they are a heck of a lot closer. The farther away something is, the bigger the antenna/dish has to be to grab as much of what it's getting to make it remotely usable. (Maybe if the satellites orbited at 70,000 feet? But the amount of energy necessary to keep them in 'orbit' would be massive)
Better luck next time. But wouldn't it be a hoot if there was a group of people in the bowels of Apple seeing the reaction, and thinking 'Hey, we could do that better!'. I guess 'Stay tuned'?
That frequency band is pretty busy with a lot of other occupants for a lot of other purposes, and they are a heck of a lot closer. The farther away something is, the bigger the antenna/dish has to be to grab as much of what it's getting to make it remotely usable. (Maybe if the satellites orbited at 70,000 feet? But the amount of energy necessary to keep them in 'orbit' would be massive)
Better luck next time. But wouldn't it be a hoot if there was a group of people in the bowels of Apple seeing the reaction, and thinking 'Hey, we could do that better!'. I guess 'Stay tuned'?
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Then I guess I did too. I said it was a stretch, but it really depended on what Apple was doing. Could they do iMessage (or whatever it's called)? Well, yes, as long as it's not 'vital information'. It could take minutes to the greater part of an hour to get to the destination, maybe longer.
Still, it was fun while it lasted. Maybe Apple needs to launch their own fleet of satellites and start their own iSat service. Imagine, iCloud available everywhere, and anywhere. The hacking opportunities are endless...
You mean Kuo was wrong yet again?
You guys give him *way* too much respect.
You guys give him *way* too much respect.
What are you talking about. Google has been working on it for a while; they just haven't released it. They've filed patents for Satellite-Based Narrow-Band Communication. From Patently Apple's site: "Google's invention filed with the U.S. Patent Office covers techniques for, and systems that enable, satellite-based narrow-band communication for communicating between a user device and one or more orbital satellites."
With $1,000 monitor stands, and $500 wheels, you have to think different-er.
The antenna will cost $895, and the service would be $29.99 per month, with a limit of 5 users, and...
all the people should care, because this should be mainstream, a safety moving forward in case of disasters etc
Just saying that Apple makes important steps for humanity that the others will/ should copy
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People need to realize that any LEO is likely to be expensive. Garmin has the 'inReach Mini', and while it's a pretty amazing little device, it also comes with a large price tag for the service to make it function. There are price breaks for yearly plans and 'freedom plans' that allow the owner to suspend their service and enable it with a simple process cost even more.
And here is a claustrophobic graphic of US frequency allocations as of 2016.
Radio spectrum is expensive, and pretty crowded...
And here is a claustrophobic graphic of US frequency allocations as of 2016.
Radio spectrum is expensive, and pretty crowded...
Some bands are better than others. For example, Starlink is using Ka-, Ku-, and V-bands. Some penetrate better than others. Emergency sat phones typically operate in a band that is nearly always on, but they have very low data rates. See below:
Generally speaking (but not always), shorter wavelength bands have higher data rates. We could go into a looooong tangent on modulation schemes, but it's not worth it. You could look up "optical crosslinks" or "optical communications" for more info.
Anyway, look up the Garmin inReach for an example of a satcom device that is considered "compact" and compare that to the iPhone... Jony Ive would come back to flip tables all the way around the infinite loop...
Same story published again after being disputed even by MacRumors:
www.macrumors.com
@Hartley @the_danka why? There is evidence everywhere that the globalstar n53 band is just for terrestrial 5G? This LEO story simply doesn’t make any sense?
iPhone 13: Buyer's Guide, Should You Buy?
The iPhone 13 was Apple's mainstream flagship iPhone for 2021. Available in a 6.1-inch size, the iPhone 12 offered improved cameras, a smaller...
www.macrumors.com
@Hartley @the_danka why? There is evidence everywhere that the globalstar n53 band is just for terrestrial 5G? This LEO story simply doesn’t make any sense?