Apple Won't Bring Satellite Features To iPhone 13 At The Time Of Launch: Report

Apple Inc’s AAPL satellite-based feature for emergency situations will not be available on the highly-anticipated iPhone 13 at the time of launch, as per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. 

What Happened: In his latest weekly technology newsletter Power On, Gurman said the iPhone 13 may have hardware support embedded but those features are likely to go live next year.

As per Gurman, the new feature will have limits and initially work only in select areas where there is no cellular coverage.

See Also: Apple's Plans With Bringing Satellite Capabilities in iPhone Related To Emergency Reporting Features: Report

Why It Matters: Just like Tesla Inc TSLA, Apple aims to eventually deploy its own satellites to beam data to devices, a plan that is still years away. 

The Emergency Message via Satellite feature will reportedly allow users to send text messages over a satellite network when there’s no cell signal available. That feature will be integrated into the Messages app as a third option alongside the standard SMS and iMessage, as per Bloomberg.

The second feature is said to be a tool to report major emergencies, such as plane crashes and sinking ships. The service may eventually be able to handle some phone calls too.

Price Action: Apple shares closed 0.42% higher at $154.30 on Friday.

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