The iPhone 14 lineup will offer satellite connectivity!

[MazeVX]

Globalstar already has, or claims to have, full coverage of Alaska for SPOT devices. That's why the spotty coverage, no pun intented, for the iPhone is odd. Must be some sort of technical limitation on the iPhone side with how it communicates.

SPOT Satellite Coverage Map | Saved by SPOT | US

www.findmespot.com

So it's not that cut and dried.

You typically see the reception going down in northern width because many services use geostationary satellites that "hover" over the equator or use various iterations of equatorial orbits because 90% of all users are somewhere in the middle and you need lesser satellites, equals cheaper network.
Iridium uses polar orbits so you may have blind times but no blind spots in northern/polar regions but the service is more expensive...

 

[MazeVX]

Stupid Interruption:

Did you know that there isn't a consensus on the number of continents? We didn't until we reached Colombia. A friend of ours from Peru, also an overlander, asked us how we felt that we made it that far. We said it was neat to finally step foot on another continent. She was appalled and told us America, both North and South, is one continent. We told her we were taught that they were separate continents. We asked several other overlanders that were present (all from other countries) and some responded that America is actually three continents...North, Central and South. Of course we used the internet and learned that there is no consensus on the number of continents. Now you do too (if you didn't already), no wonder we can't solve basic problems.

Yes of topic unfortunately but interesting... You probably didn't know that you can put your foot on another continent in California... So if that was your intention it could have been easier ;-)
BTW I talked about geographic region, that isn't necessarily a question of continental plates and yes they still don't know everything... But you need to be aware that there are different definitions one geographic and the other is geological.

 

[John and Mandi]

Yes of topic unfortunately but interesting... You probably didn't know that you can put your foot on another continent in California... So if that was your intention it could have been easier ;-)
BTW I talked about geographic region, that isn't necessarily a question of continental plates and yes they still don't know everything... But you need to be aware that there are different definitions one geographic and the other is geological.

It was close enough and I do know the difference but it was a great opportunity to share a profound tidbit…but I better get back on topic before I receive a citation : o

 

[zgfiredude]

Stupid Interruption:

Did you know that there isn't a consensus on the number of continents? We didn't until we reached Colombia. A friend of ours from Peru, also an overlander, asked us how we felt that we made it that far. We said it was neat to finally step foot on another continent. She was appalled and told us America, both North and South, is one continent. We told her we were taught that they were separate continents. We asked several other overlanders that were present (all from other countries) and some responded that America is actually three continents...North, Central and South. Of course we used the internet and learned that there is no consensus on the number of continents. Now you do too (if you didn't already), no wonder we can't solve basic problems.

Well clearly once the Panama Canal was dug it created two continents out of North and South America!

 

[trail_runn4r]

Starlink is offering its satellites for this for sure, and maybe others. It'll be an emergency only kind of service that will get a message or short bad cell call out. But anything that helps is good.

Speed Test​

No, as of now Starlink in not involved. And you can't make calls, only text and location sharing.

 

[John and Mandi]

Well clearly once the Panama Canal was dug it created two continents out of North and South America!

I was told that Mexico is considering digging their own canal, it'll be never ending and will end up on the same heap Pluto did.

 

[leeloo]

ESim only so that's a no go for me but I'm not looking for a new phone. If this is their direction I will be forced elsewhere when I do need one.

iphone 14 can be a dual esim.
I have a inphone 12, and my origin country telecom is on esim, when I travel I get a normal local sim card, as a second one. I think many countries will, even the ones in the 3rd world, will offer an esim., but remains to be seen. Basically all they have to do is have a QR code printed in the package when you buy it.

 

[John and Mandi]

iphone 14 can be a dual esim.
I have a inphone 12, and my origin country telecom is on esim, when I travel I get a normal local sim card, as a second one. I think many countries will, even the ones on the 3rd world will offer an esim., but remains to be seen. Basically all they have to do is have a QR code printed in the package when you buy it.

Yeah but getting a physical SIM to work was difficult in many countries due to the rules. Several times we had people put us under their national ID number since that was the only way to get one. We also had trouble switching back to previous carriers. Movistar gave us the most trouble. We did get our phone to work but it was reverting back to a different country since that's where their system had originally configured our device. We couldn't use any of their apps to recharge as it was tied to the wrong number, we did use pharmacies as they could force money onto our number. In a pinch we could swap someone else's SIM into our phone to help them call home etc. when their phone failed or if it became locked to a carrier. We were terminated by our US provider for being out of the country for too long and we are more inclined to overland outside the US for years (we spent almost 4 driving through Latin America). Now if we make it to Africa, it'll be a 2-3 year trip and is definitely way in the future so the eSIM problems would probably be sorted but I still don't like the idea of not being able to put whatever SIM in my phone when I want. Many people we know carried 3 or more active SIMs and swapped them between devices as needed. The whole idea of eSIMs goes against redundancy since a failure in that device will render all connectivity unusable. Keeping an old phone was a simple way of having one if anything happened to the primary, move sim and back in business. We also used our old phone in areas that were questionable by just moving the SIM. It sounds great but usability will suffer.

 

[leeloo]

It can be risky. While I was away, I deleted my esim by mistake. I was trying to make the data connection to use the physical SIM. So I see an option "remove data plan ". So ok, remove, I can add it later. Little I knew that, of course, "data plan" is the actual esim . While is not called esim in the menu is beyond me .....
Sent a mail to the carrier, they sent me a QR code, but it was working only if I was in my origin country. Took another 2 days to receive another one that worked.
On the other hand , if it was a physical SIM, and I would have lost it, or lost the phone, or sim card destroyed from swaping - I would have been screwed. It took 3 days, but it was solved, got the correct link to install it.

 

[John and Mandi]

It can be risky. While I was away, I deleted my esim by mistake. I was trying to make the data connection to use the physical SIM. So I see an option "remove data plan ". So ok, remove, I can add it later. Little I knew that, of course, "data plan" is the actual esim . While is not called esim in the menu is beyond me .....
Sent a mail to the carrier, they sent me a QR code, but it was working only if I was in my origin country. Took another 2 days to receive another one that worked.
On the other hand , if it was a physical SIM, and I would have lost it, or lost the phone, or sim card destroyed from swaping - I would have been screwed. It took 3 days, but it was solved, got the correct link to install it.

Since we don't keep a US carrier when we overland out of country we would just get another SIM, loosing the phone is always the worst case scenario. Our necessary phone numbers aren't tied to a specific provider so we can use a laptop or tablet in the interim in a pinch. Some non Apple phones have dual physical SIM slots so if you had a primary (business line or whatever) you could leave it and only swap the second one. We have never damaged a SIM but it is obviously a risk. Many ways to do it but I personally don't like not being able to just swap things when I want.

 

[Tundracamper]

I'll wait to see how it works, but does anyone want my Garmin, LOL! The convenience of one device is attractive as well as getting away from anything Garmin related.......IMHO.

Although there are some things I would rely on in an emergency situation, the iPhone doesn’t even make the top 10!

 

[Ubiety]

Have a couple buddies that have pre-ordered the iPhone 14 and am waiting to see theirs before committing. One thing that I am currently chewing on is that if I combine the "phone" and the "emergency-sat-device" into one unit then I lose both if the iPhone gets trashed/lost/battery dies/etc. Convenience at the loss of redundancy? Don't know but will probably get one when my carrier has them in stock...

 

[Tundracamper]

Have a couple buddies that have pre-ordered the iPhone 14 and am waiting to see theirs before committing. One thing that I am currently chewing on is that if I combine the "phone" and the "emergency-sat-device" into one unit then I lose both if the iPhone gets trashed/lost/battery dies/etc. Convenience at the loss of redundancy? Don't know but will probably get one when my carrier has them in stock...

With my luck, the iOS would be updating when I needed it. I want a certified emergency device.

 

[Ubiety]

With my luck, the iOS would be updating when I needed it. I want a certified emergency device.

You can disable iOS/MacOS updates making it so that updates only happen at your behest; this is how my devices/computers are configured.
iOS: Settings -> General -> Software Update -> Automatic Updates (set to Off)
MacOS: System Preferences -> Software Update -> Automatically keep my Mac up to date (options available via Advanced... button)

I see that my iPhone, and likely iPad, have updates available. Time to install them at my convenience ;)

 

[trail_runn4r]

Have a couple buddies that have pre-ordered the iPhone 14 and am waiting to see theirs before committing. One thing that I am currently chewing on is that if I combine the "phone" and the "emergency-sat-device" into one unit then I lose both if the iPhone gets trashed/lost/battery dies/etc. Convenience at the loss of redundancy? Don't know but will probably get one when my carrier has them in stock...

I got mine last Friday, can’t speak on the sat comms yet because that is not available until november.

But I’m disappointed so far. Lots of bugs to deal with and not really a difference with the 13pro.
There is a update planned for next week to solve some issue so hopefully it will get better. But this is the first time I’m thinking to returning a iPhone , if it wasn’t for the sat thing I would have probably already done it.

 

[Ubiety]

I got mine last Friday, can’t speak on the sat comms yet because that is not available until november.

But I’m disappointed so far. Lots of bugs to deal with and not really a difference with the 13pro.
There is a update planned for next week to solve some issue so hopefully it will get better. But this is the first time I’m thinking to returning a iPhone , if it wasn’t for the sat thing I would have probably already done it.

Noticed any earth shaking improvements with the camera?

 

[trail_runn4r]

I got mine last Friday, can’t speak on the sat comms yet because that is not available until november.

But I’m disappointed so far. Lots of bugs to deal with and not really a difference with the 13pro.
There is a update planned for next week to solve some issue so hopefully it will get better. But this is the first time I’m thinking to returning a iPhone , if it wasn’t for the sat thing I would have probably already done it.

Noticed any earth shaking improvements with the camera?

No, on the contrary there is a major issue going on with 3rd parties apps

So yeah, earth shaking is actually pretty accurate