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!)

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full iOS 18.5 Release Notes

Tuesday May 6, 2025 2:17 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of iOS 18.5 to developers and public beta testers, giving us a look at the final version of the update that will be provided to the public next week. With the release candidate, Apple provided release notes, so we have a more complete look at the new features that are included in the update, including those that weren't found during the beta...
siri glow

iPhone Users Now Able to Submit Claims in $95 Million Siri Spying Lawsuit

Wednesday May 7, 2025 11:40 am PDT by
If you owned a Siri-compatible device and had an accidental Siri activation between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, you could be eligible for a payment from Apple as part of a class action lawsuit settlement. Apple in January agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving Siri spying accusations, and a website to distribute the funds has now been set up and...
Nineth iOS 19 Feature

iOS 19 Beta is a Month Away With These New Features for Your iPhone

Thursday May 8, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is just one month away, and there are already many new features and changes that are expected with it. Apple should seed the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Apple's Foldable iPhone Display Tech May Set New Industry Standard

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:29 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will feature a new type of display panel developed by Samsung that has never been used in a foldable product, claims a source with links to Apple's supply chain. According to the account yeux1122 on the Korean Naver blog, the foldable iPhone will use a custom display process for which Apple will hold branding trademark rights, and that meets Apple's stringent ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17: What's New With the Cameras

Friday May 2, 2025 3:52 pm PDT by
We've still got months to go before the new iPhone 17 models come out, but a combination of dummy models and leaks have given us some insight into what we can expect in terms of camera changes. Apple is adding new camera features, and changing the design of the camera bump for some models. You might be skeptical of dummy models, but over the years, they've proven to be a highly accurate...
Mayday Calendar

Apple Acquisition Hints at Upgraded Calendar App on iOS 19 or Beyond

Friday May 9, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple acquired Canadian startup Mayday Labs in April 2024, according to a European Commission listing, spotted by French blog MacGeneration. The acquisition had not received widespread attention from tech publications until now. Apple is legally required to report certain acquisitions to the European Commission, under the terms of the EU's Digital Markets Act. Mayday Labs founder Jeremy...
maxresdefault

Video Review: Two Months With the M4 MacBook Air

Wednesday May 7, 2025 12:42 pm PDT by
It's been nearly two months since the M4 MacBook Air launched, so we thought we'd take another look at the machine now that it's been out long enough to do some serious testing with it. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Introduced in March, the MacBook Air is equipped with Apple's latest and greatest M4 chip, so it's more than capable of handling day-to-day tasks...

Top Rated Comments

lovehateapple Avatar
35 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
35 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
35 months ago
Good news. This sort of feature is completely pointless if restricted to only one country.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
35 months ago
this should be a global thing
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
utsava Avatar
35 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
35 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)