When Apple launched the iPhone 14 series, it brought with it a key new feature: emergency SOS via satellite. It came with two years’ free access, and Apple has just made a surprise announcement: iPhone 14 users can have an extra year of access for free.
The service that allowed users to contact emergency services when there was no cellular connection went live a year ago today. Which means that anyone with an iPhone 14 then would have one year of free trial access left by now.
That’s just been extended by a year, so, providing you have an iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max activated before today, you now have two years’ access again.
It’s also available for all iPhone 15 series models, with two years’ free trial available for those phones from the moment they are activated, too.
It’s not universally available, but it’s now in 16 countries and regions, Apple says, including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
It means that if you go off-grid and, heaven forbid, get into difficulties, you can try and send an SOS message via satellite.
It’s a very clever system. After all, satellites aren’t visible to the naked eye, so how do you point at them?
Apple thought of this, thankfully, and providing you are outdoors with a clear view of the sky, can use its software and GPS information to guide you where you should be pointing. Once you’ve made contact, the iPhone starts a conversation by text message and shares your location with emergency responders as well as letting your emergency contacts know where you are.
In the U.S., Apple additionally introduced Roadside Assistance via satellite to “connect users to AAA if they have car trouble while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.”
Outside emergency situations, the Find My app can be used to share your location with friends and family when you’re out of cellular connection range.
Apple says this service has already helped save lives in its first year of operation, including, “a man who was rescued after his car plummeted over a 400-foot cliff in Los Angeles.”
Today’s announcement means that anyone with an iPhone 14 or iPhone 15 can have around two years’ access to the service for free.
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