Should Apple Offer Free Emergency SOS via Satellite Indefinitely?. Apple could offer emergency SOS via satellite for free forever. A couple of weeks ago Apple announced that its emergency SOS via satellite security service, a function available on devices from iPhone 14 onwards, has been extended for a further year free of charge for those currently has an iPhone 14 (it’s also included for two years for iPhone 15 users).
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American writer and blogger John Gruber believes that Apple should offer this service for free, with no limit on the duration. This is what is indicated at the end of a pragmatic reasoning: first of all it is a technology that can literally save human lives; secondly, people willing to pay for this service are probably few for obvious reasons (it is rarely needed and not everyone is willing or remembers to activate a subscription before leaving for a trip), and furthermore the function could be a flagship compared to other brands.
What pushes Apple more than anything else to extend support beyond the free period of operation should also be the implications from a “media” point of view. The 9to5Mac site gives an example with what happened with Volkswagen, which refused to provide assistance in locating a vehicle to a user because the subscription ($150) to the Car-Net service had expired, with obvious negative repercussions from the point of view of the image (just think of what could have happened if the person asking for help had died, unable to call for help due to an expired subscription).
Apple could absorb the cost of the technology into the price of its iPhones, as Amazon has done with the 3G connection of some Kindles, for example. In any case, Cupertino could charge for less “important” services, such as the possibility of contacting an assistance service in the event of road accidents. In the USA, we recall, Apple recently introduced Roadside Assistance via satellite, a service that puts the user in contact with emergency services when the car breaks down and there is no cellular or Wi-Fi coverage.
Other security features planned by Apple allow you to open the Find My app and share your location via satellite to reassure family and friends and let them know where you are when there is no reception and the “Incident Detection” (able to detect serious car accidents and automatically call emergency services when the person is unconscious or unable to reach their iPhone).
