Apple Confirms Emergency SOS via Satellite Launching on iPhone Later This Month

Emergency SOS via Satellite will be available in the US and Canada later this month. Apple hasn't provided a release date for the feature.

Apple announced that it is investing $450 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund towards the development of critical infrastructure, with a majority of the funding going to Apple's satellite partner Globalstar.

Critical enhancements to Globalstar's satellite network and ground stations in Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Puerto Rico, and Texas will be provided by Apple.

Users will be able to send text messages to emergency services when outside the range of cellular and wi-fi coverage with the help of the Find My app on the four iPhone 14 models. Users will be able to point their phone towards a satellite using the feature.

It could take over a minute for a message to be sent under trees with light or medium foliage, but it could take 15 seconds for a satellite message to be sent in ideal conditions. An iPhone might fail to connect to a satellite completely in certain environments.

Globalstar's ground stations have been upgraded to use new high-power antennas designed and manufactured for Apple. The feature works, according to Apple.

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.

Once received by a ground station, the message is routed to emergency services that can dispatch help, or a relay center with Apple-trained emergency specialists if the closest emergency services location is not able to receive text messages.

Emergency SOS via Satellite will be available with an upcoming software update, according to a support document. For the first two years, the service will be free, suggesting that Apple will charge for it in the future.

The feature will be expanded to additional countries by the end of next year, but Apple hasn't said anything about it.