Waking up early in the morning, I suddenly found that "iPhone14 or will support satellite network connection" on the hot search, which has now exceeded hundreds of millions of reads.
According to the news, Apple plans to add satellite connection functions for the iPhone 14, Apple Watch, etc., and when there is no cellular data network, the device can automatically connect to the satellite network. The connection of the satellite network can realize emergency communication, SOS rescue and other functions, which belongs to the outdoor emergency and makes up for Apple's natural signal defects.
Friends with a little Internet memory can find that there was similar news as early as last August, but at that time, it was rumored that the iPhone 13 would support satellite communication functions. Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingqi believes that iPhone13 will join the low-orbit satellite communication capabilities, users are no longer limited by 4G and 5G network constraints after activating the terminal, as long as the satellite signal can be received to achieve calls and send and receive information, but the satellite bandwidth is not enough to ensure the demand for high-speed Internet access.
As a result, everyone can see that the iPhone 13 released last year does not support satellite communications at all, so now it is focusing on the iPhone 14 series. Therefore, some netizens complained that "according to the development trend, next year will say that the iPhone15 series supports satellite communications, and the next year it is time to say that the iPhone 16 series?" Although the ridicule of netizens is not unreasonable, this time the source is no longer an analyst, but a professional mainstream media, and it is more reliable.
The original source of the inquiry and verification news was Bloomberg news agency in the United States, which is a professional financial information company founded in 1981, with professional journalists tracking Apple News for a long time, and also maintaining a good personal relationship with Apple executives. After understanding the background, it can be found that Bloomberg is much more reliable than analysts, and there are some more detailed content in the report, which is not quoted by most mainstream media in China.
According to Bloomberg, Apple's plan is divided into two parts, the first part is called "sending emergency information through contacts", allowing users to send emergency services and contacts through satellite networks in an emergency without a mobile phone signal, in the form of "gray bubbles" as a reminder; the second part is the mobile phone to actively ask the cause of the emergency, whether it involves cars, ships, aircraft, fires and other accidents, so as to facilitate the provision of more accurate search and rescue services.
This service may involve strict regulatory and privacy concerns and will certainly not be rolled out globally, with only a subset of countries or regions supporting it. Bloomberg also pointed out that the feasibility of this feature is still in the verification stage, it is uncertain whether Apple will really launch, the only thing that is certain is that there is no need to operate through operators, and Apple may need to carry out specific cooperation with some satellite companies.
Apple Satellite Communications has many potential partners, the most likely is Musk's global Starlink satellite system, tens of thousands of satellites are enough to support global emergency communications. Although apple and Space X have a certain competitive relationship, but does not mean that there is no possibility of cooperation, Musk certainly hopes to get more support, while getting some benefits from cooperation, as to whether it is ultimately successful, it is not easy to say, perhaps can only wait for the release of the mobile phone in September.