Hold on! Apple’s iPhone 13 – illegal for 40% of the world’s population due to satellite connectivity?!

• Of course, it’s going to be absolutely wonderful to have a satellite connection on your iPhone in case you decide to climb a mountain, sail in the open ocean, or simply find yourself in an emergency due to a natural disaster that limits cell service and Wi-Fi connectivity.

• Also, the iPhone 13’s satellite connection capabilities might be way more affordable than those of traditional satellite phones when it comes to plans and outgoing calls/texts. Of course, we are only speculating, but if satellite connectivity is about to reach smartphones (even if it’s for emergency calls/texts), it’s likely that Apple will bring the price of satellite communication down, which will be amazing for the end-user.

• The iPhone 13 would literally always connected. This has never happened before, so it’s a bigger deal than you might think. If you can’t rely on Wi-Fi, there’s 5G/4G; if you can’t rely on 5G, there are satellites. Again – remember, this feature is said to be for emergencies only – at least in the beginning. Furthermore, satellite connection isn’t nearly as fast as 5G or Wi-Fi, so you won’t be able to do much more than texting/calling.

iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 satellite connection: Potential challenges for Apple’s satphone plans

Back in 2018, Indian airport police seized four satellite phones from top German officials, who were on a trip. Use of satellite phones by foreigners is banned in India, especially after the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008.

Is owning a satellite iPhone legal?

You might be wondering: “Why is Apple limiting satellite connection to just emergency texts/calls?” Well, for starters, Cupertino is probably testing the ground, before deciding to commit… fully. However, another, much better reason is that it might be… illegal.

Options…

Option 1: Perhaps Apple will have to make this feature optional. As of now, the only smartphone that can connect to satellites (Thuraya X5) lets you toggle the feature on/off just like 4G/5G or Wi-Fi. This still doesn’t make the iPhone a non-satellite phone though.

NOTE: Globalstar’s coverage satellite coverage is strongly focused on the US, Europe, Australia and parts of South America. So, Apple’s decision to partner with Globalstar wouldn’t be a coincidence.  Literally every single country listed above (except Nicaragua) that forbid owning a satellite phone is not located in the North America, Europe, South America, or Australia (duh!).

What if satellite iPhones fall into the wrong hands?

Satellite phones have been banned in several countries around the world after terrorist attacks.

If Apple were to open the satellite network for a wider variety of use case scenarios, another challenge might be potential abuse of the features, if the iPhones fall into the wrong hands. Now, disclaimer: this is very much theoretical, but terrorist organizations might be able to take advantage of a widespread satellite network of iPhones. The iPhone is a phone pretty much anyone can get ahold of. Therefore, Cupertino’s decision to limit satellite texts/calls to emergencies seems to be the right one.

In another case from 2018, Indian police seized the satellite phones of four German officials who didn’t declare the devices on arrival. The satphones were given to the Germans by their company. However, satellite phones are banned for foreign nationals in India.

In the end…

No one expected this, but the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 are going to be able to talk to satellites. Perhaps not until 2022 though…

The easiest way to find out if you are allowed to use a satellite phone or if your provider supports it as a feature (it often needs to be exclusively enabled on demand) is to contact your embassy in the foreign country where you plan to travel to, or just check government websites.