Promising Talk on Collaboration Between SpaceX and Apple
A day after Apple announced the iPhone 14‘s emergency SOS feature via satellite capabilities, Musk said SpaceX and Apple “[have] had some promising conversations” about the Starlink connection.
Apple isn't the first company to release a smartphone with some sort of satellite connectivity. Last month, SpaceX announced a partnership with T-Mobile to provide text messaging via satellite in areas with weak or no reception. But that won't be available until next year. The day before Apple's event, Huawei unveiled its Mate 50 lineup, which also comes with satellite text messaging, but Huawei's devices aren't sold in the U.S.
The iPhone 14 will be the first commercial smartphone in the US with satellites with the service expected to launch this November. Apple officially announced a partnership with satellite communications company Globalstar to provide satellite infrastructure for the feature.
It was unclear from Musk's tweets whether those “promising talks” were taking place, or what the talks might lead to. But whatever the outcome, the conversation doesn't sound like it's over yet.
We’ve had some promising conversations with Apple about Starlink connectivity. iPhone team is obv super smart.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 8, 2022
For sure, closing link from space to phone will work best if phone software & hardware adapt to space-based signals vs Starlink purely emulating cell tower.
