With the launch of iOS 16.1, Apple introduced the Satellite Emergency Call feature, which allows iPhone 14 owners to contact emergency services via satellite when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available. This feature was tested in Alaska when a man found himself in a rural area.

Early on the morning of December 1, Alaska State Police received a call from Nurvik to Kotzebue that a man using a snowplow was stranded. The man was in a cold, remote place with no communication and activated the satellite emergency call function on his ‌iPhone 14‌ to alert the authorities.

Apple’s Emergency Response Center worked with local search and rescue teams and the Northwest Arctic Search and Rescue Coordinator to send volunteer searchers directly to the GPS coordinates provided to Apple through the Emergency feature.

The man was rescued, no one was injured. Its location is remote and on the edge of satellite coverage. Apple says the satellite link may not work in places above 62° latitude, such as northern Canada and Alaska, near Nurvik and Kotzebue 69° latitudes.

Military personnel assisting the rescue were “impressed by the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in the initial alert” with the satellite’s emergency SOS feature, which is designed to ask a few questions before an alert is sent to expedite rescue missions.

Emergency Satellite via SOS is available to all “iPhone 14” users and can be activated in an emergency when there is no Wi-Fi or cellular connection. The feature is free for two years, and Apple has yet to detail how much it will cost in the future. Satellite link is currently available in North America and will soon expand to France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.