According to a recent Bloomberg story, Apple wants to let you link your iPhone to satellites so you may call emergency services in regions where cellular coverage is unavailable. After Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed on Sunday that the iPhone 13 could be able to conduct satellite calls, Bloomberg published a story. Apple’s intentions are frequently revealed by Kuo before they are formally announced by the firm, but Bloomberg’s sources imply that Apple’s approach to iPhone satellite connectivity may be more limited at first.
According to Bloomberg, one function dubbed Emergency Message by Satellite will allow you to text emergency agencies and emergency contacts when you don’t have a mobile signal by using a satellite network. Instead of the green used for SMS messages and the blue used for iMessages, these messages will have a length restriction and will be represented by a grey bubble. And, according to reports, if you send one of these messages to an emergency contact, it will get through even if they are in Do Not Disturb mode, which might assist guarantee that your message is received.
Users will also be able to report emergencies. Bloomberg says that the phone will question what type of emergency is occurring, such as if it concerns a car, boat, plane, or fire. You’ll also be able to submit details like your location and medical identification (which you can set up in the Health app). At the same moment as reporting an emergency, you may be able to inform emergency contacts.
According to Bloomberg, the next iPhone may include the necessary hardware for making satellite calls. However, a source tells Bloomberg that the new capabilities won’t be ready until next year, putting an end to the notion that you’ll be able to use them as soon as you buy the next iPhone.
A request for comment from Apple was not immediately returned.
If deployed, the new satellite link features might alleviate concerns about being able to contact emergency services in an emergency or when you’re not connected to a cellular network. It’s also possible that the features will give another means to contact emergency services in the case of a 911 outage, which does happen from time to time.
