Earlier this year, the FCC began suggesting to major mobile device manufacturers that sell their products in the United States that they will activate the FM chip in their devices so that in the event of a disaster, owners of those devices can be informed at all times about the evacuation plans, the measures to be taken ...
Many have been the manufacturers of Android devices that have activated these chips in the devices that are sold in American territory following the recommendations of the FCC, but it is something that they do not do with good eyes, since if the user has access to the radio from your device, You will think twice when hiring a streaming music service.
The chairman of the FCC has issued a statement urging Apple to activate the FM radio capabilities built into the modem of each iPhone:
In recent years, I have repeatedly asked the wireless industry to activate the FM chips that are already installed in almost every smartphone sold in America. And I've specifically pointed out the public safety benefits of doing so. When wireless networks go down during a natural disaster, smart phones with activated FM chips can give Americans vital access to vital life-saving information. " I applaud the companies that have done the right thing by activating the FM chips in their phones.
Apple is the biggest phone maker that has been reluctant to do so. But I hope the company will reconsider its position, given the devastation caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. This is why I ask Apple to activate the FM chips that are in their iPhones. It's time for Apple to get down to business and put the safety of the American people first. In the words of the Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper “Do the right thing, Mr. Cook. Flip the switch. Lives depend on it.
According to a study by the National Association of Broadcasters over the past year, only 44% of the devices that were put into circulation had enabled the FM chip built into the modem. Most of the devices that reached the market without activating this chip, specifically 94% were iPhone. So much Intel chips such as Qualcomm's that allow wireless connection of iPhones have an FM chip which would allow users to listen to the radio without having to use streaming music services.
Apple has always been one of the first to collaborate when any type of natural catastrophe occurs, donating money to organizations that help the affections as in the reconstruction tasks. Quickly Apple has replied to the statement that it would do so without any problem if your iPhone models had it, something that as the company clarifies does not happen, neither in the iPhone 7 nor in the iPhone 8, so it is to be assumed that it will not be so in the iPhone X that will hit the market in just over a month.
Apple cares deeply about the safety of our users, especially in times of crisis, which is why we have designed modern security solutions in our products. Users can dial emergency services and access medical ID card information directly from the lock screen, and we enable emergency government notifications, ranging from weather alerts to AMBER alerts.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models do not have FM radio chips or antennas designed to support FM signals, so it is not possible to enable FM reception on these products.