I have no idea if it will make it into the next iPhone, but it's certainly something Apple has been dumping R&D money into for several years.<p>From 2019:<p>>Apple Inc. has a secret team working on satellite technology that the iPhone maker could use to beam internet services directly to devices, bypassing wireless networks, according to people familiar with the work.<p>The Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker has about a dozen engineers from the aerospace, satellite and antenna design industries working on the project with the goal of deploying their results within five years<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-20/apple-has-top-secret-team-working-on-internet-satellites" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-20/apple-has...</a><p>Gurman has the best sources inside Apple, and he is still saying that emergency satellite communications (as currently sold in tiny devices like the Garmin Inreach Mini) are actively being worked on.<p>>The rumored satellite features for future iPhones are reserved for emergency uses only, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. A few days ago, a report by well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the next iPhones will come with support for Low Earth Orbit satellite calls and messages. Gurman’s sources said, however, that Apple isn’t turning its devices into actual satellite phones, at least for now. Instead, the tech giant is reportedly developing at least two emergency-related features relying on satellite networks.<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/31/apples-rumored-iphone-satellite-support-may-be-for-emergency-calls-and-messages/" rel="nofollow">https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/31/apples-rumored-iphone-sate...</a><p>Kuo has the best sources inside Apple's supply chain, but we've seen him get the timeline wrong for components graduating from prototypes to mass production before.