Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite feature is finally coming to iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro later this month (November 2022), if you live in the US or Canada.
All iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models (including the larger iPhone 14 Plus and iPhone 14 Pro Max) already have all the internal technology they need to communicate via satellite; they were just waiting for Apple to flip the switch.
And it's about to happen soon, with Apple revealing (opens in new tab) that it and its satellite partner Globalstar are finally set to roll out the feature in November 2022.
With Emergency SOS via Satellite, iPhone 14 users will have a way to communicate with emergency services that doesn't require a Wi-Fi or cellular connection. So the next time you're exploring an off-grid wilderness, if you've got an iPhone 14, you won't have to worry as much about how to call for help if you need it.
However, you won't be able to use the feature to contact whoever you want, at least for now, which sadly means you won't be able to post your remote adventures on Instagram. Satellite Emergency SOS is, as the name suggests, only for contacting emergency services.
When it launches, Emergency SOS via Satellite will join the other new safety feature on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models: collision detection. This feature (also found on Apple Watch 8, Apple Watch SE 2, and Apple Watch Ultra) relies on various data collected by your Apple device to determine if you were involved in an accident.
If it detects that you have been involved in an accident, your device can then automatically contact the emergency services, although you have a few seconds to cancel the automatic call in case the device malfunctions.
At this time, Emergency SOS via Satellite is only available in the United States (including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) and Canada. Considering the feature would have cost Apple €450 million to roll out in those regions (based on how much Apple says it invested in US infrastructure), we imagine it may be a while before it decides to expand it further. ; more about satellite communications unless you're sure the feature will be popular.
If you have an Android phone, it might not be long before you can use a similar satellite SOS feature: Android 14 has been reported to bring satellite communications support to many of the best Android phones in 2023.