With the release of the iPhone 14 last fall, Apple introduced one of its new flagship features: Emergency SOS via satellite. This feature allows users to contact emergency services and send short text messages to them in areas without cellular connection. A system that has already saved several lives and made possible through Apple’s collaboration with Globalstar. Now, the company reveals that with the iPhone 15, we can expect to go even further.
Better connectivity, even if not for emergency
The situation is as follows. Alongside the release of the satellite emergency calling feature, American company T-Mobile announced plans with Starlink (which recently witnessed SpaceX launching 53 of its satellites using Falcon 9) to bring direct Starlink connectivity to existing iPhones and Android devices. Now, as reported by PCMag, Globalstar responds to these claims by explaining that they already provide support for direct communication with satellites.
“Globalstar already supports direct MSS to device for emergency communications on mass-market consumer devices and is providing extraordinary public interest benefits worldwide, including in rural and remote areas. In 2022, Apple Inc. announced a groundbreaking ‘Emergency SOS via Satellite’ feature directly to the device, utilizing Globalstar’s MSS network, which is already available to users of the iPhone 14 device family.”
The most interesting part is yet to come. When Globalstar talks about the evolution of these functionalities, the company states, “The Globalstar MSS system will continue to evolve over time to support a growing range of features and services directly to terminals on its licensed spectrum. Ultimately, hundreds of millions of people worldwide will have Globalstar connectivity at their fingertips in situations where communications are critical and there is no terrestrial network available.”
With the iPhone 14, Apple made it possible for an iPhone to communicate directly with rescue services via satellite in case of an emergency. Later, with an operating system update, the possibility of sharing our location through the Find My service via satellite was also considered. This is not considered an emergency, but simply allowing those with whom we share our location to know where we are.
Now, it seems that Globalstar aims to take their MSS system further by evolving to support more options. In this scenario, and let’s remember that we are only talking about rumors, the iPhone 15 could include more satellite functions, such as sending text messages without coverage, for example. It’s too early to think about making satellite calls, but at some point, a communication like “we had to spend the night in the mountains, we’ll be back in the morning,” even if it’s not an emergency, is of great value and something we could see in future versions of the iPhone operating system.
Let’s remember that currently, the satellite emergency function is free for the two years following the purchase of a compatible device. Along this line, and without knowing the price of the service yet, it is plausible to think that Apple may offer more than just emergency communication.
Part of this evolution has become possible thanks to Apple’s investment of a whopping $450 million in Globalstar. This investment aimed precisely at enabling the company to expand its service, among other things. We have been witnessing the sequential arrival of this functionality outside the United States. Nevertheless, we will see what Apple has in store for us regarding connectivity with the iPhone 15.
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