Every Wednesday, AppleUnboxed customers will receive mailboxes. This is a guide to everything that Apple is going to do with the most lucrative company in the world. At the end of each week, I’ll post only one item from the previous newsletter.
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This week’s story is about a new (and somewhat thoughtful) feature coming to the iPhone 13. You can read Gordon Kelly’s official account here. But the story has now moved on a bit, with more details coming from Mark Kurman, a trusted analyst at Bloomberg.
So, read the updated and expanded version of what appeared in this week’s newsletter (and your weekly pet care photo at the bottom of this post).
AppleUnboxed: Includes iPhone 13 Satellite Connection
Now this is something that no one is thinking about. A few days ago, credible analyst Ming-Shi Guo announced that the next iPhone can send messages even when you’re not near a cell tower or WiFi. So, that’s great.
This is done by connecting to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites. The iPhone modem will run the new radio technology that enables this connection. This is an important emergency communication system and can be very useful if you are in trouble and without cell protection.
Bloomberg’s Mark Kurman has contributed to the title several times, including in the Now Power on the newsletter. He didn’t mention it before making Ming-Shi Guo, so it could be a feature that Apple has kept hidden until now.
First, he said it would be used for two purposes: to communicate with emergency services and loved ones through the regular news app.
The second target would be a live reporting mechanism for major emergencies like plane crashes.
Now, in the latest edition of his newsletter, he explains things in more detail. Here is the new information:
selected area only
Although he did not specify which countries have access, Kurman said: “Emergency facilities will only operate in areas with no cellular coverage and in selected markets.”
It is certain that there will be a US market, otherwise Apple will not release it. But there is no further clue. After all, there are areas in every single country with no cellular coverage.
Then came the jaw dropped:
Apple may launch its own satellites
“Apple eventually wants to have beam data on its satellite instruments, but that project is still a few years away from launch,” Kurman said.
Wow that’s a thing. Will these satellites provide GPS or similar information to improve Apple Maps? Does the program provide more services such as phone calls and data via satellite?
But it’s not a satellite iPhone
As part of his coverage, Kurman said he has no plans yet to use satellite technology for phone calls in areas without cell coverage. “The answer is big no. It won’t happen now, next year or any time in the future.”
is knowledgeable. Apple’s relationship with telephone networks around the world is highly integrated – if we look away from Verizon’s presence with the introduction of the iPhone 12 to talk about 5G – breaking that ties would be confusing.
it will be a text service
As they previously announced, emergency use of this capability will be limited to messages in the processor, which will appear in gray, “allowing users to communicate with emergency services and close friends without any cell signal”. He said that one day it may be possible but not now.
Although the hardware will be on the next iPhones, as expected in the coming weeks, services associated with them will come later, most likely in 2022, Kurman previously said.
Additionally, to connect to a satellite, the user must be outside and it may take 60 seconds or more to receive the signal. In addition, local laws will determine which satellites can be accessed.
There are many merits, but this is the best addition to the capabilities of the iPhone.
Unspecified but likely to me is that since the modem is common to all iPhones in a particular release year, it is a service available on all four models which, should it be announced, is not excluded for the Pro versions.
The announcement of the next iPhone with Airboats 3 and Apple Watch Series 7 coming soon. Look at the exact date I predicted.
one more thing
Inspired by Dwight Silverman’s brilliant but now defunct Note Release newsletter, this AppleUnboxed post covers weekly pet photo care. Silverman used it for smartphone photography and I love it too.
