The iPhone 14 lets you call for help via satellite from even the most remote areas. Here’s everything you need to know about this groundbreaking new feature.
One of the most exciting features in Apple’s iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro is one that you’ll hopefully never need to use: the ability to summon help in an emergency using satellites.
Dubbed Emergency SOS via satellite, this new feature allows iPhone owners to reach out to emergency services from just about anywhere on the planet — even when far away from cellular and Wi-Fi networks. While it initially launched in the U.S. and Canada, Apple has also expanded its reach to four European countries and has more international expansion plans underway for next year.
When Apple executives introduced the feature during the company’s Far Out event on September 7, they quickly pointed out that cellular coverage is constantly improving. However, as the company execs conceded, it’s still not hard to find yourself in a situation where you may have little or no signal, especially in remote areas where folks are even more likely to need emergency assistance.
Apple’s new satellite connectivity feature is solely for emergency use. Apple has not turned the iPhone 14 into a satellite phone, and you still won’t be able to make calls or send text messages without traditional cellular connectivity.
In fact, Emergency SOS via satellite is a feature that we hope most folks will never use. It’s unlikely you’ll see any settings for it on your iPhone; it remains hidden in the background until you need it.
This is also a fallback emergency system. It only activates when you have no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage available at all — from any carrier. As cool and futuristic as satellite communications sound, calling 911 over your cellular network is still a far more efficient way to call for help. Further, in the U.S. and Canada, you can place a 911 call over any cellular network, whether you’re a subscriber on that network or not; you don’t even need an active SIM or eSIM in your iPhone to do so.
Satellite communications are slower than traditional cellular calls and texts as the signal has to travel a much greater distance. Until recently, Apple hasn’t said too much about the satellite network it’s using; in September, an Apple spokesperson told Reuters that it had partnered with Globalstar to deploy the satellite infrastructure and investing a whopping $450 million to cover 95% of the costs involved in building and launching new satellites to power its futuristic emergency SOS network.
On November 10, Apple provided some more details in a newsroom announcement, confirming the investment from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund in Globalstar’s operations and adding that more than 300 Globalstar employees are involved in supporting the new satellite service.
To be clear, Apple’s satellite communications are entirely separate from 5G technologies. Although a rumor last year suggested that Apple was building satellite communications over 5G, similar to what SpaceX and T-Mobile are up to, that’s actually not the case. A few analysts had discovered a new 5G frequency — band 53 — on the iPhone 13 that was licensed exclusively to Globalstar and assumed Apple was planning to use it for satellite communications. However, like most communication technology companies, Globalstar does more than just satellites; it also operates private terrestrial LTE and 5G networks using this band in places like the Port of Seattle and the New York Power Authority. It has nothing to do with satellite communications.
Instead, Apple’s satellite network will use the same bands used by most other satellite communication services, specifically the L-band and S-band frequencies. Apple confirmed this in this week’s announcement, noting, “When an iPhone user makes an Emergency SOS via satellite request, the message is received by one of Globalstar’s 24 satellites in low-earth orbit traveling at speeds of approximately 16,000 mph. The satellite then sends the message down to custom ground stations located at key points all over the world.”
Apple hasn’t shared any further details on its new satellite network, but it’s fair to say that these 24 satellites will be at altitudes similar to the Iridium network, which orbits 485 miles above the earth’s surface.
