Re: iPhone 13 will be getting satellite service in iOS v18.5!

On Wed, 7 May 2025 01:54:55 -0000 (UTC), Ant wrote :

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2025/05/06/apple-to-make-unexpected-free-offer-to-all-iphone-13-users/

Thanks Ant for letting us know about this unexpected bonus!

This new capability for iPhone 13 is for carrier-provided satellite
features (bear in mind these carrier-provided features are different from
Apple's own Emergency SOS via Satellite, which has been available on iPhone
14 and later models and works independently of cellular networks).

Each carrier may or may not partner with satellite providers to augment
their cellular networks with satellite connectivity.

For example, I think T-Mobile partnered with Starlink but I'm not sure
about the other major USA carriers (nor about European carriers).

It's important to note that support for carrier-provided satellite features
has been available for iPhone 14 and newer models since iOS 18.3. The iOS
18.5 update brings this capability to the entire iPhone 13 series.

Note that this update does not bring Apple's native Emergency SOS via
Satellite feature to the iPhone 13. This feature relies on specific
hardware present only in iPhone 14 and later.

One way to perhaps tell if when your iPhone is using a carrier-provided
satellite feature, it might display "SAT" in the status bar.

Thanks for letting us know about this new feature for the iPhone 13.