Apple Reportedly Plans to Expand iPhone 14's Satellite Feature to More Countries

All four iPhone 14 models include a new Emergency SOS via Satellite feature that is set to launch in November in the United States and Canada, and a new report today claims that Apple plans to expand the feature to additional countries over time.

emergency sos via satellite
Apple reportedly informed Swiss website MacPrime that it plans to announce additional countries for Emergency SOS via Satellite later this year, followed by even more countries next year, but it's unclear exactly when the feature would actually launch in additional countries. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the matter.

Emergency SOS via Satellite is designed to allow iPhone 14 models to connect directly to a satellite, allowing users to send text messages to emergency services when outside the range of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. When it launches in the United States and Canada, Apple says the service will be free for the first two years, which suggests that Apple might be planning to charge for the service at some point in the future.


Apple says that in "ideal conditions with a direct view of the sky and the horizon," a message might take 15 seconds to send, but notes it can over a minute for a message to send "under trees with light or medium foliage." On the iPhone, the feature helps users to orient their iPhone towards a satellite to establish a connection.

(Thanks, Steve!)

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Top Rated Comments

lovehateapple Avatar
37 months ago
MacRumors should also reach out to Apple to find out how much emergency satellite messaging is going to cost when the 2 year free trial period expires. Inquiring minds want to know...
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Graphikos Avatar
37 months ago
I imagine the rollout is more dependent on relay stations. Just because you can connect to a satellite anywhere on the globe, in theory, that doesn't mean your message has a meaningful place to go to get you help.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darthbane2k Avatar
37 months ago
Good news. This sort of feature is completely pointless if restricted to only one country.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
37 months ago
this should be a global thing
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
utsava Avatar
37 months ago

Good news. This sort of feature is completely pointless if restricted to only one country.
If by completely pointless you mean millions of people can use it for emergencies over thousands of square miles, then yeah, I guess it's completely pointless.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joecomo Avatar
37 months ago
somehow the whole idea of a satellite service: to be a service for earth.
Great, that they are working on that
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)