iPhone Satellite Messaging Review

With the satellite messaging service on the iPhone 14 and newer models, Apple brings satellite communication directly to your ever-present smartphone. The same phone you carry to take pictures and navigate to the trailhead will now provide emergency satellite communications (with all the same caveats of other satellite communication options) and basic non-emergency messaging. It works and is worth considering.

Performance Comparison

SOS/Emergency Message

The Satellite Emergency SOS feature on the newest Apple iPhones is a big step in smartphone technology. Technologically, the iPhone SOS messaging is the same as what has long been available in products from other manufacturers in our review. Apple uses the same satellites (with the same, or greater, coverage and timing limitations) as some others. Built into a smartphone, though, the interface is inherently smoother and, in some ways, more intuitive to use.

In an emergency, you simply dial 911 regardless of what the top of your phone screen might say about cell coverage (if you are in a foreign country where Apple has gotten their satellite messaging approved you will dial the local emergency number in that country). 911 calls tap into a greater cell coverage network than your regular service plan will. If your phone can get a cellular signal of any type, it will connect the 911 call like normal. If it cannot connect to a cellular tower, it will automatically initiate the satellite Emergency SOS protocol. That protocol usually involves you entering a few details about your emergency and then sharing a series of text-only messages back and forth with the dispatch center. Satellite messages (regardless of the device) take longer than regular texts (especially in densely forested or very steep terrain --satellite coverage isn't fully comprehensive, even within the stated coverage area, and this is true of all devices) and, of course, the actual response to your emergency will depend a great deal on local terrain, weather, other emergencies, and search and rescue resources/infrastructure. “Instant,” ubiquitous communication coverage is just the first step in getting actual help to your location. That communication is all that the new iPhone technology accomplishes.

Non-Emergency Messaging

As of September of 2024 all iPhones with the satellite hardware (iPhone 14 and newer) and updated software allow for basic texting through satellite connection. You can send small text messages to any individual you could and would otherwise text with. And they can text you back. You won't get all of your text messages and you won't be able to participate in any group text threads.

From satellite service you can send anyone a text message. You will be able to receive messages, for 24 hours from the last sent satellite message, from those you've sent a satellite text message to. You will receive all satellite eligible messages from those with which you have enabled “Family Sharing” or “Emergency Contacts” status. Basically, you have to think a little about your sat texting and you likely have to align expectations with the person on the other end of the conversation. You cannot share any sort of “media” (pictures, videos, etc) via satellite.

Signal Coverage

Apple uses the GlobalStar satellite network for the iPhone satellite functionality. This is the same network that one of the longest-running companies in the outdoor communication game uses. GlobalStar offers coverage throughout all low to moderate latitudes (below 62 degrees). Technologically, Apple Satellite could work anywhere there is GlobalStar coverage (within normal satellite communication limitations). However, logistically, communications are locally regulated and emergency response is locally executed. Because of this, Apple Satellite SOS and satellite messaging is only available in approved areas. Coverage for US and Canada rolled out in November of 2022. We tested in Southern Argentina in December of 2022. We were in a location with GlobalStar coverage, but the “SOS” icon on the iPhone was not visible. Nor was the demo mode or Find My satellite location service. Testing of other devices employing GlobalStar in Alaska has indicated some functionality, but GlobalStar calls that coverage “marginal” at best.

Beyond the stated coverage area of the satellite network, satellite connectivity is a function of the device's satellite antenna. Smartphones have lots of instrumentation crammed into them. Fitting in a satellite antenna requires that that antenna is quite small. As compared to dedicated satellite texting devices, the antenna in the iPhone is quite small. We know this because of this logical deduction and because of the way signal connection on the iPhone works. You have to activate and aim the satellite antenna for each message send and retrieval. In theory, this doesn't sound too bad; you have to have your phone in hand and in sight to compose or view the message anyway. However, in practice and testing, this greatly lengthens and complicates the message sending and viewing procedure. In many sorts of real outdoor circumstances (steep terrain, forested), seeking and maintaining a satellite connection requires close attention and minutes of your time, for each text message you send or receive. In our testing, we found the attention, time, and manipulation required to acquire and maintain a connection to be considerably distracting and consuming. Devices and services with larger antennae are, after initial set up and such, much easier to use, in terms of connection status.

Ease of Use

Like all mass market, well-developed smartphone apps, the user interface for Apple's iPhone satellite function is slick and easy. That said, it is a technical product and has limitations, so some user understanding is necessary. But Apple, in our experience, makes that process easier than most. The primary limitations, as noted above, are in acquiring and maintaining satellite connection. More than with other devices and services on the market, satellite texting with the iPhone requires attention. Otherwise, user matters are best compared to your “regular” texting protocols and most of these are enumerated above. You need to compose shorter texts, you can't participate in group texts, you can only receive texts from certain people, and you can't send or receive non-text media.

Portability

The smallest iPhone is definitely bigger and heavier than the smallest satellite messengers. Those smaller satellite messengers (many more than half the weight and size of an iPhone) also do more in terms of satellite communication than the iPhone. In simple terms, the iPhone is very big and heavy for satellite communications. However, you will likely have a smartphone with you anyway. Who, really, “in this day and age,” leaves their smartphone at home while out hiking? If you will carry your smartphone anyway, the iPhone satellite functionality adds absolutely nothing to the weight and bulk of your kit. We didn't give it the highest portability score because of its weight and bulk, but that isn't really the whole story.

Should You Buy the Apple iPhone 14?

Yes, if…

If you are ready to upgrade your smartphone anyway, the satellite communication functionality of the iPhone should factor into your decision. If you already have a satellite communication device or will get one for its two-way wilderness messaging, that choice is harder. If you are a casual outdoors person “on the fence” about satellite communications and the associated investment, the iPhone 14 is a great intermediate step.

What Other Satellite Messengers Should You Consider?

Nothing else in our test currently, is like the iPhone 14. With it, you get messaging “off the grid” and with no extra electronics to carry (or subscribe to, for now — Apple indicated in 2022 that Satellite Connection will be free "for two years"). In the past, on the most remote trips, members of our test team would carry a smartphone, a primary 2-way satellite messenger like the Garmin inReach Messenger Plus, and a compact emergency-only device like the Ocean Signal rescueME PLB1. With an iPhone 14 or newer in the group, the OceanSignal device can be omitted while maintaining communication redundancy. If you wish to use just the iPhone for wilderness communications, make sure your contacts at home have a good understanding of the realities of such communication. If you want a routine, two-way connection to the outside world, you need something like the inReach Messenger or ACR Bivy Stick.