Quick summary
Apple has extended access to the satellite features it has offered since the iPhone 14, adding an extra year to the process.
So far, since the start of 2022, Apple has not charged for the service and it remains free.
Apple has expanded access to its satellite features, meaning those with an iPhone can continue to enjoy the peace of mind that there’s an emergency connection when you’re off the grid.
Apple designed the suite of satellite functions for emergency connectivity, originally allowing users an SOS function, but the service evolved to include roadside assistance and messaging.
The service will launch in 2022, initially with a two-year trial period, but Apple continues to extend it – including a new extension that was quietly added with the launch of the iPhone 18 Pro.
At the bottom of the press release for the new phone sits a footnote that says, “Apple is extending free access to satellite features for an additional year for existing iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 users.”
So that process seems to become a standard feature, although the fact that Apple calls it an extension leaves it with the option of a paid service in the future.
How does the Apple Satellite Service work?
Apple’s iPhone communicates with Globalstar satellites and was one of the first consumer satellite offerings in a smartphone. Of course, there was already satellite calling, and devices like Garmin’s InReach offered satellite communications in 2011, but Apple generally helped usher in a new era of satellite connectivity.
That’s not quite the end of the story: while satellite connectivity currently offers limited features, there’s a bigger push for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) to expand coverage to areas that don’t have traditional masts to provide more connectivity.
With the adoption of NTNs by traditional mobile carriers, it may be that blanket coverage is more widely available, reducing the need for specialized SOS functions. Simply put, once the satellites offer 5G themselves, you may never find yourself without a cell phone signal.
T-Mobile in the US has already partnered with Starlink, while the O2 Satellite service in the UK is available as a Bolt On for £3 a month. It’s not a perfect solution: you need line of sight to the sky and there’s limited bandwidth, but we’re at the beginning of the move into space connectivity with a lot of development coming in the next five years.
For now, those with an older iPhone can rest assured that the emergency SOS features are still available and you still don’t have to pay for them.