Well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the iPhone 13 will have the ability to use satellite communications, thanks to a custom baseband chip.
Kuo claims that The Qualcomm X60 chip that Apple is expected to use in the new iPhone 13 will support satellite communications in low Earth orbit.
“There are many potential scenarios for Apple’s business model cooperation with Globalstar.” Kuo writes. “The simplest scenario is that if the user’s operator already has a partnership with Globalstar, the user will be able to directly use Globalstar’s satellite communications service on the iPhone 13 through the operator’s service.”
We don’t know if messaging and satellite calling would only work with Apple services like iMessage and FaceTime, or with any other service. It is also not known whether satellite features would be free, such as GPS, or would have associated usage fees.
The iPhone 13 won’t be the world’s first smartphone to support satellite communications, but it will be the first widely used model to do so. Kuo says other manufacturers who want satellite communication capabilities will have to wait a year, until sometime in 2022, and will have to use the next X65 baseband chip.
For a while it’s not clear what Apple will have done on the X60 to support satellite communications. It’s also unclear what changes he’ll have to make to equip the device with the necessary set of antennas for satellite communications technology.
Most satellite phones have a visible antenna and, in some cases, some other external equipment to pick up and retransmit the satellite signal.
Kuo also believes this is just Apple’s first foray into this technology as it is a “Innovative user experience that can be integrated into new products.” Other future products, such as an augmented reality headset or the supposed Apple Car, would be enhanced by integrating satellite technology along with the 5G wireless network.