iPhone 14 Users Rejoice: Apple Offers One More Year of This Service For Free!
iPhone 14 users got the new service for free from Apple last year when it was launched, but the company decided to extend the free offer for another year. As you may recall, the company said that iPhone 14 buyers will get 2 years of its emergency service, which helps people contact services where they don’t have a network.
It’s interesting that Apple has decided to push the satellite-based messaging service for an extra year, effectively making it a three-year service that iPhone 14 buyers get for free. And it goes without saying that iPhone 15 models will also get the feature and extended support.
However, Apple has set some conditions for extending the free service. The company says you can only use the free extension of the SOS service for one year if you’ve activated your iPhone 14 in a country where the service is actually available, and you did so before 12:00 PM PT on 11/15/2023.
Countries where Apple’s SOS satellite technology is available include the US, UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland and Spain. Apple claims that the SOS service has already helped save many iPhone users because satellite communication was able to provide emergency services to people in distress. Those who have received help from the service have usually been stuck in a natural cause or lost access to the internet on their iPhone in remote parts of the world.
Apple has invested $450 million in the development of critical infrastructure that supports the emergency service via satellite, which was introduced in the iPhone 14 models last year. Apple uses Globalstar’s satellite technology and assets to make the feature work.
Many of us expected the company to announce pricing for the service, but the extension means Apple will need some more time to likely give it a wider rollout that could justify charging for the service.
Apple has first-mover advantage with this feature, which was supposed to be part of the Android ecosystem, but Qualcomm hasn’t seen the expected rollout and was recently forced to end its deal with Iridium for satellite service.
