According to a post in Apple's newsroom, iPhone 14 users are getting a rare freebie from Apple.

Hope you never had to use this feature on your iPhone, as it is for emergencies. Enabling Emergency SOS via satellite allows you to send messages to emergency services or send your location to contacts when you are out of normal cellular reception range.

Apple initially promised two years of Emergency SOS coverage as part of the price when the iPhone 14 was launched. Taking into account the additional 12 months, the free coverage for the iPhone 14 series will expire after September 2025, depending on when the phone was purchased and activated.

Unfortunately, iPhone 15 users will not get the extended time period, even though they received the same two-year promotion at launch. Even Apple's newest model only offers 24 months of free emergency satellite connectivity, meaning that, like the iPhone 14 series, coverage will expire after September 2025.

iPhone 15 users can perhaps console themselves with the fact that they will get additional features as part of the satellite package; with the 2023 iPhone, Apple will add roadside assistance via satellite, in addition to other capabilities for US users giving them the option to request car repairs from AAA.

It is not yet known how Apple plans to charge for the use of emergency SOS via satellite. Currently, satellite capability is only available in 16 countries, so Apple may be waiting for more countries to enable the feature before charging for its use. Alternatively, the Cupertino crew may be taking their time to work out the fee structure and which other services to bundle.

The move comes within days of the announcement that Snapdragon Satellite (the rival smartphone satellite service behind many of the chips that power the best Android phones) will shut down this December, coincidentally. This appears to be largely due to a lack of uptake from Android phone manufacturers, which means that Apple currently has a virtual monopoly on smartphone satellite connectivity until someone else tries it.

Rumors of the upcoming iPhone 16 series have yet to confirm or deny any changes to emergency SOS via satellite, but it seems to us that it is likely to get a year or two of free coverage too, if not additional features.