iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max are all compatible with satellite connectivity. This advantage allowscontact the emergency services in the event of a problem, without having to rely on the traditional network. However, it turns out that this is not always accessible everywhere. This is for example the case in the mountains, where hundreds of square kilometers are sometimes isolated from the rest of the world.
In British Columbia, the tool has just made its first people happy. In this province of Canada, two women lost in the extreme cold at the end of December were in fact able to notify 911 whileneither 4G nor SMS were available. It was the snow that blocked the survivors and their car, even though the driver had originally planned a classic route which she diverted due to an accident. In the end, the search teams will have found them almost thirty minutes from the first major road.
Apple has everything planned
When someone decides to use the iPhone's satellite connectivity feature, it cantransmit your GPS positionin the emergency room. This is what happened here, allowing the geolocation of the victims to be quickly identified. To achieve this, mobile relies ona low orbit mesh in partnership with Globalstar, which cost Cupertino nearly half a billion dollars.
This isn't the first time the iPhone 14 has saved a life in this way. Indeed, a little earlier, last November more precisely,the occupants of a car were rescued by a helicopter after falling more than ninety meters high to the bottom of a ravine. This time the incident took place in the United States, but satellite connectivity has also been offered on French iPhone 14s for a few weeks.
How to prevent emergency services with satellite connectivity in the event of a problem?
For the satellite emergency SOS functionality to be triggered correctly, you must first be located outdoors and on open ground. To avoid sending a signal to help for no reason, Apple suggeststry the “for butter” option. Here is the procedure to follow:
- open the Settings app
- to touchEmergency call
- under Emergency SOS via satellite, touchTry the demonstration
- follow the detailed instructions
For now, the iPhone 14's satellite connectivity is free. But Apple has clarified that users will soon have topayerto continue to benefit from it.
