shorty6049 t1_j6xva8a wrote on February 2, 2023 at 5:44 PM

Reply to comment by Daryltang in Samsung's S23s don't have an answer to Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite by needlesfox

So while I agree with you, the iPhone is also the first consumer phone in history to include it, right? Like, we all just went out into the woods without satellite phones in the past and took that risk. It'd definitely be a nice feature to know you had in your pocket just in case, but at the same time I'm not seeing it as a deal breaker until there's mass adoption of something like that.

ItIsShrek t1_j6xyf1p wrote on February 2, 2023 at 6:03 PM

The hardware in the iPhone and features are literally just Globalstar's SPOT tracker with an Apple UI. The Spots start at like $150 and have monthly service starting at $17/month, much more attainable than a satellite phone and are relatively common with a more casual market of hikers, backpackers, etc. It's only good for calling emergency services and sending "I'm OK" and location check-in messages to loved ones, the InReach and similar products that attach to phones to give them satellite capabilities are a better comparison to emergency SOS via satellite, than a full-on satellite phone with full voice calls is.