I was holding back from buying the Garmin device so I could know what apple offers. It’s much inferior to garmin. Garmin uses a much better iridium network that has greater coverage and doesn’t require you to point the sky certain angle. It also allows you to message anyone in the world and receive text message from anyone. It’s more expensive but if those features are important , then you have the choice. With apple you can text ur friend socially in the middle of desert or ocean.
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What You Need to Know About Apple's Emergency Satellite Feature for iPhone 14
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SOS insurance is included with Garmin's inReach plan, and I'd be surprised if Apple did something different.
What I'm curious about is if iPhone 13 models will get this too, since Kuo recently said they have the necessary hardware.
Not quite, as the One plan is only available on a handful of countries. Hence me saying those on the top two iCloud Drive storage tiers should get it.
Yes, so long as you bought it in any country besides China mainland, HK, or Macao, according to Apple's support article on the service:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213426
If you have a need for an inReach, you should still get an inReach. As mentioned above, Iridium's network is far superior (they cover the entire globe) and the inReach has several other advantages if you're going to be way out in the boonies.
The Apple feature is great for less hardcore folks, though, and will probably save a lot of lives.
For those surprised by charging a fee after the first two years for emergency response, it really isn't all that different from practically every new 2022 vehicle. Most of those only include a few years of accident response.
Network use isn't free. That's why you have a monthly phone bill.
I do agree that it be nice if there was a bare minimum level of service tied into the Apple One plan going forward.
Network use isn't free. That's why you have a monthly phone bill.
I do agree that it be nice if there was a bare minimum level of service tied into the Apple One plan going forward.
Definitely. I won't trust my safety without knowing exactly how the system operates etc. BUT it's a awesome backup feature + I'm definitely downgrading to gen 1 and not even thinking about the higher models.
I expected this to be A: free B: not as limited in what you can do. You can't even send your loved ones a good bye text!
You can always buy one of those:
Oh for sure. I wasn’t making a comparison. I was taking about the part what happened if you forgot to pay for your service. I think Iridium has overall better coverage than globalstar.
Any other suggestions? The iPhone has historically been about not needing to buy additional devices, quite the opposite.
For what you want it to do... unfortunately nothing that will be in any way more affordable.
I am paying $12/month for the basic Garmin inReach service, and the device costs about $400.
I often go offroad in very remote areas like parts of Death Valley, and if I broke down I would be seriously SOL. Several people have died in the last several years in these areas by being unable to communicate.
Here is one
abcnews.go.com
People who think this should be permanently free might want to explain who should pay for launching and operating the satellite constellation.
Maybe a tax on everyone?
I often go offroad in very remote areas like parts of Death Valley, and if I broke down I would be seriously SOL. Several people have died in the last several years in these areas by being unable to communicate.
Here is one
Camper dies, wife rescued in Death Valley National Park
An Arizona tourist has died and his wife has been rescued after their vehicle got two flat tires and they went missing in Death Valley National Park in California
People who think this should be permanently free might want to explain who should pay for launching and operating the satellite constellation.
Maybe a tax on everyone?
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I mostly have an issue with this not being a free feature. It's like being charged for fall detection after 2 years.
I think they're probably just saying that so they don't need to maintain the feature forever if they end up not wanting to maintain it, but we'll see in two years.
I'll not be surprised if rescue organizations get inundated with truly unnecessary rescue requests. That happened when the SPOT locators came out, as they were one of the first affordable satcom tools. That said, they're really great even for letting family know you're running late (but not hurt), altering your route, etc. I'm guessing the Find Me app portion allows such non-emergency functions?
Things are not free, there is a cost to everything. If you are not paying, then someone else is.
What would be a better idea is to bundle it in with an iCloud subscription.
The inReach Mini. You're not going to get satellite communications without an ongoing expense, though. And wanting an iPhone to completely replace a very specialized device for a niche market is a pretty big ask.
But if you have a true need for a device like this, you'll probably want it to have much better battery life than an iPhone.
I saw one article that says, "Apple used to sell wonder, now it sells fear."
I haven't thought of it that way, but there is some truth to it.
I haven't thought of it that way, but there is some truth to it.
No, I don't really have a true need. It would be nice to have when hiking and such, but I'm not outdoorsy enough for the AW Ultra
This just seemed like a strange introduction of feature/service — kind of half assed. But that was just my impression.
A couple of weeks ago (at most) T-Mobile and Spacex announced that they were rolling out a similar service, with similar limitations. It would work with ANY newer cell phones, including an iPhone. Someone at the rollout asked what phones were supported and whoever is CEO of T-Mobile said any modern cell phone, including iPhones. No real price or availability were announced. I wonder if they wanted to beat Apple to the punch of announcing a service like this.
I saw it live on YouTube, I'm sure its still available.
I saw it live on YouTube, I'm sure its still available.