September 9, 2022
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX has held exciting talks with Apple Inc about using Starlink’s satellite services to support the iPhone 14’s new emergency SOS feature.
With the release of the iPhone 14 models and iOS 16, Apple introduced a new Emergency SOS feature via satellite that enables iPhone users to receive emergency help in off-grid areas even when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available. Apple has also set aside $450 million from its advanced manufacturing fund to support the service, which is now available in both the United States and Canada.
Despite Apple announcing that it has selected Globalstar Inc. as a partner to operate the feature that allows users to send emergency messages from remote locations, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his company has had “some promising conversations with Apple about Starlink connectivity.”
“We’ve had some promising conversations with Apple about Starlink connectivity. For sure, closing link from space to phone will work the best if phone software and hardware adapt to space-based signals vs Starlink purely emulating cell tower.” Musk said in a tweet.
Nevertheless, SpaceX and Tesla reached an agreement in August for a new “satellite-to-cellular” service that will pair low-Earth orbit Starlink second-generation satellites with T-Mobile’s mid-band 5G spectrum to provide “near complete coverage” in the vast majority of the United States.
Apple has not spoken of any Starlink conversations with SpaceX.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
