At the moment, the satellite communication in the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro seems to be quite limited in functionality, because it can only be used to call for emergency help. Samsung has been reported to have bigger plans for such communication. But it turns out that Apple didn’t waste time either.
Together with the launch of Emergency SOS in European countries first, Apple also received an interesting patent. It talks about much wider possibilities of satellite communication, which will transmit not only messages and location, but also a lot of other data:
”Satellite communications data conveyed by transceivers #28 and antenna radiators #30 may include media data (e.g., streaming video, television data, satellite radio data, etc.), voice data (e.g., telephone voice data), internet data, and/or any other desired data.”
Apple has already invested $450 million in the satellite communication project. But for an emergency call-only feature outside of the cellular network, that’s a hefty amount. It is another matter if such a connection can offer much more opportunities.
A patent, of course, does not necessarily mean that in the near future we will see such functionality in smartphones, because companies patent everything they can, and it is far from a fact that everything will be implemented in the end. Although, taking into account how satellite Internet is currently developing for ordinary users, it is quite possible that something interesting awaits us soon. But with Globalstar’s current capabilities, that seems unlikely.
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