Announced by Apple at the presentation of the iPhone 14, the Satellite SOS Emergency function It is already a reality in the United States and Canada, and it will reach more countries next month.
It is one of the new functions of the recently launched iPhone 14 that Apple proudly showed at the last event to present its new smartphones, and today it is already a reality in the United States and Canada. The "Emergency SOS" function via satellite that allows you to communicate with the emergency services In the event that you do not have network coverage, use the direct connection to satellites to send messages that include your location and medical data that will reach the emergency services so that they can attend to you if necessary. It is a service that will be free for the next two years, and that can mean the difference between a scare and a misfortune.
Joanna Stern has been able to test the system for the Wall Street Journal, making clear the virtues and defects of a system that is quite an advance for a conventional smartphone, but that is still far from what devices prepared for it such as Garmin satellite phones offer. and the like. The connection is not perfect, it takes perhaps too much time to be able to send all the information and still has a lot of room for improvement, but we insist, it is something that can save your life if necessary.
In addition to announcing that it is now available in those countries, Apple has also announced that before the end of this year will be available in other European countries, such as France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom, which is a good indicator that its expansion outside of North America may be much faster than we might have thought at first. Throughout 2023 it will reach more countries, hopefully Spain, Mexico and others among them.