If you travel frequently in areas without cellular service, you’ve probably felt some anxiety over the possibility of facing an emergency situation without being able to summon assistance. Last year, Apple announced a means of addressing this: a satellite-based system called Emergency SOS available to users of the iPhone 14. The service, as The Washington Post reported last year, is the result of a partnership between Apple and the satellite company Globalstar.
Now, Emergency SOS has been extended as a free service for another year for existing iPhone 14 users — it’s now complimentary for a total of three years instead of two. Apple made the announcement earlier this month and touted the success of the program to date.
“Emergency SOS via satellite has helped save lives around the world,” said Apple’s Kaiann Drance in a statement. “From a man who was rescued after his car plummeted over a 400-foot cliff in Los Angeles, to lost hikers found in the Apennine Mountains in Italy, we continue to hear stories of our customers being able to connect with emergency responders when they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.”
Why Your iPhone May Never Get a Replaceable Battery
Apple may have figured out a loophole in new EU battery regulationsApple’s announcement also pointed out that Emergency SOS service is available on the iPhone 15 in over a dozen countries. (It is not available in older models before the iPhone 14; and you need iOS 16.4 or later to operate it.)
“We are so happy iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users can take advantage of this groundbreaking service for two more years for free,” Drance said of the updated feature. As Zach Griff noted in an article at The Points Guy, this update should give many iPhone 14 and 15 owners a bit more security while they’re traveling.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
