Always just a tweet away from the spotlight, Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX and Apple talked about satellite connectivity.
A day after Apple announced the iPhone 14’s emergency SOS via satellite feature, Musk said that SpaceX and Apple “[have] had some promising conversations” about Starlink connectivity.
Apple isn’t the first to announce a smartphone with some kind 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. A day before the Apple event, Huawei got the jump on Apple’s satellite announcement by launching its Mate 50 lineup, which also comes with satellite-enabled texting. But Huawei’s devices aren’t sold in the U.S.
So with the service expected to launch this November, the iPhone 14 would be the first commercially available smartphone with satellite in the U.S. Apple formally announced its partnership with satellite communications company Globalstar to provide satellite infrastructure for this feature.
It’s unclear from Musk’s tweet whether these “promising talks” are ongoing or what the conversation might lead to. But whatever the outcome, it appears the conversation is not over.
