The iPhone is undoubtedly the biggest product Apple sells, and a new feature that adds the ability to send text messages using a satellite could make it even bigger. The days of not being able to contact friends, family or even a co-worker when you don't have a cell signal or Wi-Fi are numbered.
During the company'sWorldwide Developers Conference keynote, before Apple Intelligence and the iPad's calculator app were announced, Apple showed off the Messages via satellite iOS 18 feature. And if this were three years ago, it would have been the only thing people talked about.
For the past couple of years there have been numerous reports of people in distress who were rescued or helped, in part, because of their iPhone. Apple highlights these stories before its big shows. One feature behind some of the more dramatic rescues is Emergency SOS via satellite which lets iPhone 14 and 15 owners without a cell signal contact emergency responders.
Now with iOS 18, Apple is taking that technology and expanding it so you can message anyone, even when it's not an emergency. And I got to see the feature in action.
Watch this: Messages via Satellite in iOS 18: First Look
Kurt Knight, Apple's senior director of platform product marketing, walked me through a demo of Messages via satellite at Apple Park during WWDC. In a remote part of the company's campus, on a warm sunny day, Knight sent messages, emoji and even tapbacks using satellites orbiting in the sky hundreds of miles above us.
"It is just like using iMessage that you're used to, super easy," Knight said. "We have a custom protocol so that this is still end-to-end encrypted. We had to do extra work to make the [data] packets extra small, because you need to be really efficient sending things up to space and back."
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Knight didn't have to do anything special to get the feature to work, aside from following the onscreen guide on how to connect to a satellite and occasionally adjusting the direction he was facing when prompted in order to have a stronger connection to the satellite. Like Emergency SOS, you need to be outdoors with a direct line of sight of the sky. Tall buildings, mountains, dense foliage and other objects can block satellite connectivity.
He scripted messages on his phone just as he would if his iPhonewere on Wi-Fi or using a cellular network. There are two ways to start messaging over a satellite connection. When your iPhone is in SOS mode, there's a notification on the lock screen that asks if you want to turn Messages via satellite on. Otherwise, you can just open the Messages app and get the same prompt.
Oh, and the first message he sent was, "satellite message incoming," which is the satellite texting equivalent of "can you guess where I'm calling from?"
The only tell that something was different was the time it took for messages to be sent. Most sends were nearly instantaneous, others took 15 to 20 seconds with one taking over a minute.
But what surprised me the most was that he was able to receive incoming iMessages and SMS texts using satellite connectivity with some caveats. If you use iMessage over a satellite connection, all messages will come in no matter who initiates the conversation. For SMS over satellite, you have to initiate the conversation by sending the first message unless that person is an Emergency Contact or part of Family Setup.
"We support SMS," said Knight. "So you can send a message to basically anyone who has a phone and they're able to just reply."
Knight also shared that Messages via satellite doesn't currently support RCS. Unlike SMS, which has a tiny data protocol, RCS has not been optimized to work over a satellite.
Messages via satellite supports emoji, tapbacks and text messages, as well as iMessage bubble and screen effects. You can't send or receive photos or videos. The feature works for one-on-one conversations and doesn't support group chats.
With iOS 18 Apple now has four features that use its satellite service: Messages via satellite, Emergency SOS via satellite, Location via satellite (through Find My) and Roadside Assistance via satellite.
Apple's expansion of its satellite service for the iPhone leaps past other companies that had hoped to get into the emerging market. In January 2023, Qualcomm announced it was partnering with Iridium for Snapdragon Satellite, only to end its deal with Iridium in November. Consumer satellite connectivity planned by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have yet to come online. At this time, only Apple's partnership with Globalstar for its iPhone satellite connectivity has linked smartphones to satellites on a large scale.
Read more: Satellite Messaging: The 2023 Phones Trend That Wasn't
Message via satellite is a free feature, at least for now. Apple currently includes Emergency SOS via satellite free for two years. Beyond that, Apple hasn't shared how much it will cost or if there will actually ever be a charge to access the feature. Messages via satellite will be available this fall with iOS 18 and will roll out initially in the US before expanding to more countries.
"With just a software update, we're going be able to make this broadly available to tons of people overnight," remarked Knight.
