Apple upgrades iPhone and Apple Watch satellite features, "challenging Starlink," from emergency use to everyday connectivity.

Apple advances satellite communications, expanding from SOS to images, navigation, and API platforms, challenging Starlink and heralding a new era of integrated connectivity. (Background: Intel and Apple reopen “chip meetings,” causing stock prices to soar; Apple abandons M-series chips for Intel Core Ultra? ) (Additional context: Does the new orange color of the iPhone 17 symbolize Bitcoin? Some tokens also symbolize transfer.) When in remote mountainous areas without internet, the iPhone’s “satellite emergency SOS” has saved lives multiple times. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reports that Apple is shifting its satellite ambitions from a “lifesaving tool” to “everyday connectivity”: not only text, but in the future, images and navigation can also be transmitted via satellite, and phones in pockets will connect automatically. This shift signals a new phase of integrated space-ground communication.

Apple’s Satellite Strategy: From Emergency to Everyday Use Since launching the satellite SOS feature on the iPhone 14 in 2022, Apple’s engineering team has been working to support images and integrate with Apple Maps, allowing backpackers in signal-deprived canyons to identify directions. They are also developing “seamless connection” antennas that eliminate the need to point the phone at the sky, providing a connection experience comparable to regular networks.

Upgraded positioning opens up commercial possibilities, with Apple planning to open APIs for outdoor adventures, remote monitoring, and IoT (IoT) apps to operate offline. For developers, this is a new entry point; for telecom operators, it could weaken roaming and SMS revenues. For Apple, transmitting via satellite through apps will also boost service commissions and device upgrade incentives.

Differentiation from Starlink The satellite battlefield is turbulent. Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink and T-Mobile have launched direct mobile services; Verizon and AT&T are actively seeking space partnerships. Starlink focuses on broadband, while Apple emphasizes messaging, navigation, and emergency rescue, adopting a differentiation strategy to avoid direct conflict.

However, Apple’s partner Globalstar has a limited number of satellites with aging hardware, requiring additional investment in infrastructure or alternative networks to maintain coverage—costs and timelines are uncertain.

The Next Decade: Satellites as a New Telecom Order As terminals can directly transmit signals to the sky, data privacy and encryption standards will come under increased scrutiny; government regulation, geopolitical issues, and ethical debates will follow. Satellite charges may shift from “traffic-based billing” to “feature subscriptions,” forcing telecoms to seek new differentiated services.

Looking back to 2025, Apple’s satellite plans are still in early stages, but the trajectory is clear: integrating hardware and antennas to reduce friction, expanding ecosystems through APIs, and avoiding broadband price wars through differentiation. Success won’t be measured in one or two quarterly reports but could redefine people’s fundamental understanding of “connectivity” over the next decade.

In the future, consumers may no longer ask “Is there signal?” Investors will view satellite communications as Apple’s new growth engine. The boundary between sky and land is disappearing—whoever can make satellites “invisible” will hold the next decade’s communication standards.

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