Although the iPhone is best known for its camera and software experience, the addition of emergency life-saving satellite communication has created new competition among rivals.
Assume you are stuck in a location where there is no mobile tower nearby.
Your phone will try everything it can to connect to a distant cell phone tower to maintain connectivity, but as you move further away from the last tower, your phone service will go completely out of order, and you will notice no service text or out-of-service text on the screen.
In this situation, your phone’s capabilities will be limited to those of a camcorder and an internet access device.
Have you ever been stuck in an area where you couldn’t get 3G or 4G service??
You may consider using the 2G service by calling and sending SMS, but what happens when there is no mobile signal, no calls, no SMS, nothing?
You may have a medical emergency or you may have become stuck somewhere unpleasant while traveling.
These situations may be life-threatening for you, but thanks to cutting-edge technology included in the latest iPhone 14 series, you are not in danger. It saves your life in situations where no other phone can assist you.
Cell Phone Services, How Do They Work?
A cell phone, as the name implies, is a communication device that allows people to communicate with one another via a cell network, i.e. a mobile tower.
Consider a cell phone connection a grid of multiple cell towers covering every area.
When you are at home, you are connected to a specific cell tower, and when you leave your house, you are now connected to another cell tower – all of this shuffling around multiple mobile towers happens in the background, so you don’t even have to think about the technical procedures involved.
This network of cell towers keeps cell phones and mobile phone communication alive and well.
How Different is Satellite Communication from Cellular Service?
It is indisputable that iPhone is always famous for its camera and software experience such as find my iPhone, however, iPhone has introduced a ground-breaking feature in its latest model iPhone 14 with the latest iOS 16 release which enables users to directly communicate via satellite using Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication mode.
With satellite services, your device sends a signal directly to the satellite.
A ground station is a receiving center that acts as an access point to receive the signal for a satellite. After the reception of the signal from the satellite, it is then forwarded to another cell phone or satellite phone.
For a phone to directly communicate via satellite, it must have the necessary hardware to work on higher frequencies as satellite communication works in the higher frequency range i.e., gigahertz range.
To make satellite emergency functional apple invested around 450 million dollars in satellite infrastructure.
While incorporating a satellite emergency system into the iPhone 14 series, Apple also incorporates various sensors that allow the iPhone to detect a car crash or fall accident.
The system then initiates an emergency service and attempts to deliver the SOS message via Wi-Fi and carrier service; if service is unavailable, it will use the satellite emergency service to notify the nearest Apple rescue center.
How does iPhone Emergency SOS operate?
Apple explained easy steps to connect an iPhone to a satellite service in case of emergency:
- Keep your phone under a clear view of the sky and horizon and make sure you’re outside.
- Keep in mind that trees, hills, mountains, canyons, and large structures could also distort the satellite connection by causing a hindrance in the signal.
- Your phone will assist you in adjusting your position in order to initiate a steady satellite connection.
- It is to be noted that a connection could be maintained even if the screen is locked.
- After establishing a satellite connection, emergency service can be contacted, the satellite emergency service can also be used in sharing your exact location with your family and friend using the Find me service.