What Apple's Surprise Free Offer To All iPhone 13 Users Means Right Now

Forbes

4 days ago

When Apple released iOS 18.5 (and we've just learned that there may not be an iOS 19 this fall), there were few new features. One that was there was satellite connectivity for iPhone 13 users — something nobody had been expecting. Here's what it means right now.
Apple iPhone 13 series
That's the feature which was introduced with the iPhone 14 series, and means that if you're in the great outdoors with no cellular connection, you can point your iPhone 14 or later at the sky and be connected to emergency services or car breakdown companies.
Software in the iPhone knows your location and is able to spot the satellites passing overhead to guide you where to point. This service uses Globalstar satellites and can't be introduced to the iPhone 13 as the necessary hardware isn't on board.
Instead of that, the new option for users of the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, this is 'carrier-provided satellite features,' as Apple describes it.
This means that you don't need to point the phone at the satellite to make contact. It happens automatically and works even if your phone is in your pocket— this difference has been described as a 'game-changer' for its greater convenience.
Services like these are more like conventional cellular connections and need the right plan to work. Right now, only T-Mobile has this capability, though other carriers will follow. It's not limited to the iPhone 13, or any other iPhone, and will work on Android phones, too. You need to have signed up to the T-Mobile Starlink beta, which runs until July, after which it will become a paid service — though included in some T-Mobile plans at no extra cost.
Please note, unlike some reports suggested, Starlink is not installed on your phone.