Apple is extending free Emergency SOS via satellite on the iPhone 14 Pro series for another year. The company initially promised two years of free access for the phones when they launched in 2022.
Emergency SOS via satellite allows the iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 series to connect to emergency services without mobile network or Wi-Fi access.
iPhone’s Emergency SOS via Satellite got credit for saving lives Wednesday when it was the only way a family trapped in a van amid raging wildfires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, could call for help.
The service has brought aid to plenty of people in need so far in its short life, since launch in 2022. This emergency seemed even more fraught than many, as you can see from the frantic texts shown in a post on X below.
A California hiker who broke her leg in the Angelos National Forest was able to get help thanks to the Emergency SOS via satellite service built into the iPhone 14 series.
The feature enables those range of cellular network coverage to call for rescue.
Apple is expanding Emergency SOS via satellite to two new countries: Australia and New Zealand. If you use an iPhone 14, you can enjoy this life-saving feature for free for the next two years.
The feature allows your iPhone to contact emergency services through text messages when you are out of mobile network range.
A trio of hikers in Utah got trapped at the bottom of a deep canyon, and their situation could have been dire except they were able to call for help via the Emergency SOS via satellite service built into the iPhone 14 series.
It’s a new feature anyone going where they’ll out of range of cellular network coverage should know how to use.
All iPhone 14 models can use Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service in countries in N. America and Europe. It allows users of the latest iOS handsets to exchange messages with emergency services while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.
Getting an iPhone 14 in contact with a satellite isn’t complicated. But it’s something users should know before they need it.
Here’s how the process goes.
Half a dozen additional European countries will soon gain access to the iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via satellite feature. It was already available in six countries around the world.
It allows users away from cellular networks to reach out for help from almost anywhere … as long as the local emergency services are prepared for the satellite service.
Emergency SOS via satellite on an iPhone 14 took the “search” out of “search and rescue” for two fortunate Canadian women. They got stuck in snow on a logging road in British Columbia, Canada.
Rescuers said they thought it was the feature’s first use in BC. And the way it pinpointed the women’s location may have saved the women’s lives without the need for a time-consuming search.
Apple is expanding iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature to more countries. The feature is now available to iPhone 14 owners in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Ireland starting today.
Emergency SOS was only available in the United States and Canada so far. Apple previously confirmed the feature would expand to more countries in December.
Apple’s new Emergency SOS via satellite service built into the iPhone 14 helped Alaska State Troopers rescue a man near the Arctic Circle.
As the satellite SOS service just launched in mid-November, this may be the first time it has been used in real crisis.
