Hidden in the apple iPhone 17 Press releases are a reward for centrifugal owners of older models. The company has free access to satellite features for iPhone 14 and 15 owners. This is Apple’s Third extension Due to emergency SOS passing satellite Launched with iPhone 14.
“The free trial will be extended to iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users who activated a country that supports Apple’s satellite capabilities by 12 a.m. on September 9, 2025,” the company’s copy read. Apple Support Page List Armenia, Belarus, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia are unsupported countries.
Apple’s off-grid feature package began in 2022, through emergency SOS via satellite. In iOS 18, it extends to include By satellite messagefind my visit and curbside help. These features are made through partnerships with Globalstar.
As for why Apple continues to expand free access, Reddit put forward a logical theory after last year’s announcement. “I can’t see that Apple once charged [Emergency SOS via satellite]“u/Spin – Los Angeles Posted. “The positive PR of ‘Save by Apple’ is too good, and the negative PR of death is because they didn’t pay $3, which is too bad.” (It’s worth noting that the pricing is speculative. Apple doesn’t say how much it charges.)
You can demonstrate the features on your iPhone right away. To test emergency SO, go Settings > Emergency SOSAnd scroll down to “try demo” (at the bottom). For text message function, please go to Settings > Applications > MessagesAnd scroll down to “Satellite Connection Demo”.
