The iPhone 14 series is the first to include Apple’s new Emergency SOS Satellite function. The functionality has been live for a while now in the United States and Canada. A man who got lost in the Alaskan mountains says the emergency function saved his life.
MacRumours was the first to reveal that on December 1, 2022, a guy traveling from Noorvik to Kotzebue in Alaska had to spend the night in a freezing, isolated place after his snowmobile broke down. Fortunately, he was an iPhone user and had the iPhone 14 on him at the time. He called for help using the iPhone 14’s satellite-based SOS emergency function. The Apple Emergency Response Center subsequently updated the rescue team with his iPhone 14’s GPS coordinates.
On December 1, 2022, at around 2:00 am, the Alaska State Troopers were notified that an adult male traveling via snowmachine from Noorvik to Kotzebue had activated an Apple iPhone Emergency SOS via satellite on his iPhone after becoming stranded. Working with local search and rescue teams, the Apple Emergency Response Center, and the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator, the NWAB SAR deployed four volunteer searchers to the Nimiuk Point area directly to the GPS coordinates provided by the Apple Emergency Response Center.
State troopers in Alaska responded to the distress call and, along with local rescuers and the Search and Rescue Coordinator for the Northwest Arctic Borough, successfully located and rescued the trapped guy. As luck would have it, he made it through the ordeal unscathed. The fact that he was able to use Apple’s satellite functionality while in a region on the outside of where satellite connectivity is available is particularly remarkable. Apple claims that in locations above 62 degrees north latitude, such as the far north of Canada and Alaska, satellite connectivity may not be available. Locations like Noorvik and Kotzebue, where the man became lost, are not far from the 69° latitude.
Responders afterwards remarked how impressed they were with the initial notice made via the iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via Satellite capability.
