If it works as intended, this will be much better than the costly and funky implementation of the Garmin inReach.
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What You Need to Know About Apple's Emergency Satellite Feature for iPhone 14
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Free is a interesting term when you look at this subject.
Development
Modern geo sat - $100-$200 million? Hard to tell and I can't find exact figures on quick search. (iridium has 75 birds up there). Starlink is $1.5 million a pop but they said they need 12,000 to complete the grid.
Cost to launch a satellite - millllions.
Maintenance, crews, network - millions per year.
Not really sure how free is supposed to work.
They die. Pretty straightforward.
That’s exactly how my Garmin inReach service works.
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It’s basically a fancy PLB. An InReach does significantly more.
I think Apple’s very limited functionality is absolutely the right choice for the mass market in an iPhone, but I hope no one is confusing it with a dedicated satcom device.
Ok.. but free for 2 years is ok though? You do realize that very few people(proportion—wise) will keep paying for this? Maybe I'm wrong, but there aren't that many people that need this enough to pay for it. Granted, they haven't told us how much this will cost, but still. Was it worth all of the investments you mentioned?
I think it's just a test for them to see how many people will actually use it.
They will have enough data by 2024 to decide which way to go.
Wonder what the plan is after someone stops paying their cell phone bill and finds themselves in a life-or-death situation.
The companies that originally launched all these satellites all went bankrupt lol. Excepting Musk's more recent one, of course.
I guess. I'm not super concerned, but this presentation just seemed off to me for a couple of reasons.
Pretty much the same features that Apple announced. Basically its going to use StarLink satellites, but it has to be the new Version 2 that is waiting on Starship to be able to launch satellites that big in the numbers the system would need. So...next year-ish? Not really a lot of details beyond SMS messaging, at least at first, and you need a pretty clear line of sight to the satellite. The phone app will help you point your phone in the right direction.
That’s a great whataboutism. Nobody knows how this will pan out. At any rate if a subscription is required I’m sure apple will provide lots of lead time.
I’m betting signing up or enabling for this feature comes with a lot of legalese.
Of course it's innovative. It's in a regular, mainstream phone that everyone has with them, and requires no subscription (for two years at least). Those other devices you refer to are specialty devices that are purchased specifically for sat communications. I have a $299+ Garmin unit that only works if you pay at least $15 per month when you want to use it. I had to buy a sat device specifically for remote situations. Apple's tech is baked into a common phone. That's a big leap....
I don't remember any mention about cost. They are hoping to get multiple services in Europe and Asia so they have world coverage. They didn't mention trying to get other providers in the US to split the cost here, just that any brand of phone-Google, Samsung, Apple etc, would work. Providers that agree to support it have to section off a small subset of (what I am assuming to be) texting bandwidth, because it does end up traveling down and going onto the providers network, so they have to reserve the necessary frequencies.
Edit- Did a quick look, it was 12 days ago, and there are several videos on Youtube. Search for T-Moblie and Spacex. The original announcement was a 40 minute length, but there is at least one that is 11 minutes or so from CNET.
It was discussed here on MacRumors:
Because it’s extremely expensive to support something like this. Competing devices cost several hundred dollars and up, and require subscriptions of $10-30 a month. they just got a whole satellite network to devote 85% of their network… that doesn’t come cheap, and once apple sells you the phone, theoretically their income has ended.
Yes. In generally large dedicated devices, not in a phone. Did you also protest the invention of the smartphone? “iPods and computers have been around for years. Nothing innovative here.”This technology has been available for years in other devices. Nothing innovative really. Anyone who treks around in isolated areas have been able to buy devices to use for a long, long time.
Personal Locator Beacons: How to Choose | REI Co-op
Learn the difference between a personal locator beacon (PLB) and a satellite messenger, and which emergency signal device might be right for you.www.rei.com
OnStar in GM vehicles did it. Crash notification for 2 years, then 1, and after, an annual subscription.
It's a feature and a service that costs Apple so passing it on to the consumer is a no brainer for Apple, who charges a premium for everything that doesn't cost them externally like this does.
And, it's a feature you don't have now. If you're going to be off the grid and out of cell coverage, it's an option you have to choose and to pay for, again, for something you don't have now. There will be likely incessant notifications that this service will be expiring for free in Oct 2024 and if you choose to ignore it, your phone will work off the grid and away from service, just as it does now.
Very good points. Satellites need to be replaced and launches are still in the multi-millions of dollars.