Apple’s Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via Satellite service has saved the life of an iPhone 14 user involved in a car crash in the USA.
A potential life saver in your iPhone 14. Image source: Apple
Intelligent crash detection and vital information sharing
According to a Twitter post by law enforcement and first responders, a vehicle with two passengers swerved off the Angeles Forest Highway and plummeted 300 feet into the canyon of in the Angeles National Forest. This fall was detected by the users iPhone 14 through the Crash Detection feature. This feature detects crashes with the help of the gyroscopes, accelerometer,barometer and even microphone to detect elements of the crash such as abrupt motion and the sound of glass breaking.
When a severe crash is detected, an alert will appear with a slider to make an emergency call. You can slide to call emergency services or dismiss this alert if not required. If no response is received in 10 seconds, a further 10-second countdown will start. At the end of it, emergency services will be contacted immediately. Siri will then read out the automated message “The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone”. It will then relay your approximate location with latitude and longitude. It will also send a message to your emergency contacts after another 10 second countdown, if you have them set up.
Emergency SOS uses satellite when cellular
reception is unavailable
Emergency SOS sends a text to Apple relay centers by satellite. Image source: MacRumors
However, during the car crash at Angeles Forest Highway, there was no cellular reception for Crash Detection to call emergency services. So, Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature came in to play. It sent an emergency text message to an Apple relay center via satellite. An employee then called the LA County Sheriff’s department to relay that information. With this, rescuers were able to locate both passengers and get them to a hospital for treatment. Apple’s features have definitely come in clutch to save the lives of at least these two people.
For more information on how to set up Crash Detection on your iPhone, visit the Crash Detection feature page on Apple’s official website. This feature is available on iPhone 14 and iPhone Pro, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), and Apple Watch Ultra.
The regular iPhone 14 is more than just a hardware update, that much we know. Some of the new hardware fitted into the new iPhone 14 makes the device one of the best life companions you can ask for. It packs the previous generation A15 Bionic, which is still regarded, as per Apple, one of the most powerful System on a Chip (SoC) you can find in the current smartphone market.
But the Pro variant of the iPhone 14 deserves something better, something even more powerful. It is, after all, Apple’s most powerful flagship to hit the market. It is supposed to be the most technologically advanced and innovative smartphone in Apple’s range of smartphones.
Welcome to the Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the two most innovative smartphones in the world by Apple’s standards.
Maximum Speed, Maximum Power
First up is the brand new A16 Bionic that is even more powerful than the already potent A15 Bionic chip you can find in the current iPhone 14 and the older iPhone 13 Pro series. According to Apple, the new chip is 40% faster than the A15 Bionic, which technically makes it the fastest smartphone processing chip you can find in the world today. Again, this is all according to Apple. For the first time ever in a smartphone as well, the A16 Bionic employs the 4nm build process to make it even more efficient than before. The A16 Bionic also packs an even more powerful dedicated imaging engine that allows the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max to fully take advantage of its 48-Megapixel quad-pixel main camera.
Brighter than Ever Retina
The display on the iPhone 14 Pro models are the most advanced you can find on any iPhone so far. You get either a 6.1-inch or 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion that allows the device to turn its refresh rate all the way down to 1Hz to prolong battery life. The displays now can push up to 2000 nits of peak brightness too, twice that off the iPhone 13 Pro. The new Super Retina XDR display also features Always-On display for the first time on an iPhone. Just to keep everything safe and protected, the displays are protected by Apple’s new Ceramic Shield front cover like the regular vanilla iPhone 14. Of course, the rest of the device is also water and dust resistant to ensure that it gets through life with no fuss.
Dynamic Island
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Keen eyed readers might find that the notch on the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max is a little different now. It is a sort of elongated punch hole instead of a forehead notch. The punch hole houses a TrueDepth camera and other sensors for Face ID to work. The proximity sensor and light sensor is situated behind the display unit instead of the island now.
While this type of solution is nothing new in the smartphone industry, the genius is in how iOS 16 ‘hides’ the island hole. They call it the Dynamic Island, and it is a rather clever way of integrating the island hole into the iOS experience.
The Dynamic Island functions as the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max’s notification and quick access panel for ongoing background apps. You can keep things like timer in view via the Dynamic Island as well, turn-by-turn navigation can also be kept on the Dynamic Island even when you are on other apps. It even displays Live Scores of live matches in the most sensible way.
48-Megapixel!? On an iPhone!?
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Out the back is also the most advanced camera system that you can find on an Apple smartphone ever. You now get a 48-megapixel sensor instead of the usual 12-Megapixel sensor on the main shooter. Alongside the main shooter are 12-Megapixel Ultra-Wide and Telephoto cameras. Thanks to the more powerful A16 Bionic chip, the Pro model’s cameras performs at least twice better in low-light conditions.
The 48-Megapixel sensor on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is the biggest ever found on an iPhone and that also helps with low-light photography. To ensure that photos are not hoarding your storage bandwidth, the 48-Megapixel photos are shrunk to 12-Megapixel sizes while maintaining the depth and detail of a 48-Megapixel photo. Thanks to the 48-Megapixel sensor as well, 4K videos and photos can be captured with in full resolution without digital zoom even when you put the camera to 2x zoom. Of course, more pixel count also means even more detailed photos in ProRAW formats.
Crash Detection & Emergency SOS via Satellite
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max also includes Crash Detection technology and Emergency SOS via satellite feature just like its more accessible cousins, the vanilla iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Unfortunately, again, Emergency SOS function is only available for the U.S. and Canada markets for now.
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Price and Availabilty
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be available will be available in select regions on the 16th of September 2022 onward. Malaysia will get both variants of the device not too long after that though from the 23rd of September 2022 onward. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is available in four storage variants – 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. You can choose between four colour options for the most advanced Apple iPhone ever – Deep Purple, Gold, Silver, and Space Black. The iPhone 14 Pro starts from 5,299, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max starts at MYR 5,799. For more information on the Apple iPhone 14 Pro, you can check out their website.
The Apple iPhone 13 was something of a wonder. It was, according to Apple, amongst the most powerful smartphones in the world. Of course, Apple would also like to think that they make the best smartphone in the world. Confidence is key, they say.
With the iPhone 13, Apple pulled all the stops to make the smartphone experience better than before. Instead of focusing on fitting new hardware to push technological boundaries, it was more about making the Apple iPhone a better companion to its users. They followed that same recipe in the new Apple iPhone 14, alongside some very welcome additions.
First up, there is no iPhone 14 Mini here. You have the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus instead. You get the standard 6.1-inch display with the regular iPhone 14, and then you get a larger 6.7-inch display on the Plus variant. They are selling this as a separate thing to the Pro variants of the iPhone too, understandably.
New Bigger Display
Source: Apple
You still get the recognizable notch on the top part of the display that now houses a TrueDepth camera. According to Apple, the front camera will now take better pictures than ever with newly added features like autofocus. On both variants also, you get a beautiful Retina XDR OLED display with peak brightness of 1200 nits making HDR contents as immersive as they come on an iPhone The Retina XDR display also boasts 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and Dolby Vision for an even better Netflix experience, especially if you go for the larger iPhone 14 Plus. The displays are also now covered in what Apple calls a Ceramic Shield front cover, a built-in screen protector to protect it from drops and other bumps it might meet in its lifetime. It is also water and dust resistant, to ensure that it can handle anything you can throw at it accidentally, obviously.
Power From the Pros
Beneath the new expansive display is Apple’s proven A15 Bionic System on a Chip (SoC). It is the same one found on the Apple iPhone 13 Pro models. It packs two powerful performance cores for all sorts of heavy lifting, and four efficiency cores within to keep the device going for long periods of time. It also packs a 16-core neural engine for Siri to leverage on and for iOS to keep things snappy and snazzy. For even better photos, the A15 Bionic also houses a new integrate image processor. The Apple iPhone 14 Plus also now features the longest all-day battery life of any available iPhone.
Even Better Photos and Videos
Source: Apple
Out the back is a glass housing that adorns new colours for the iPhone. You still have the standard black (Midnight), and white (Starlight) variants of the Apple iPhone. The Product RED is also still an option for the iPhone. Additionally, you get to get your iPhone 14 in blue or purple.
The backs of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus house two cameras. The main camera is a 12-Megapixel shooter like before. Accompanying the 12-Megapixel main shooter is an equally impressive 12-Megapixel ultra-wide camera. Thanks to the dedicated Photonic Engine found on the A15 Bionic, the camera performance is much improved especially in low-light conditions. The Deep Fusion computational prowess also allows the camera to capture photos with breathtaking details and textures, true to life colours, and full of information.
There are a few new features on the camera too; it has a new action mode that cleverly stabilizes videos even when they are shot in the middle of the action. The LED flash has also been re-worked and is now 10% brighter than before and is supposedly more uniform and consistent. There is also the Cinematic mode available for videos shot in 4K 30fps and 24fps. Of course, you get to shoot your videos in brilliant Dolby Vision HDR colours.
Emergency SOS via Satellite and Crash Detection
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
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Source: Apple
What is impressive with the iPhone 14 is not all the things listed above. It is not the latest iOS 16 for the iPhone. Nor is it the fact that Apple Fitness+ is coming to all iPhone users. What we find most impressive regarding the Apple iPhone 14 is that it now packs satellite technology and a high-impact accelerometer.
Having satellite technology might not seem like a big deal. Satellite based mobile phones have existed for a while now and it is used in various situations where cellular signals are choppy or when cell towers cannot be installed. It is a rather old school technology that is only good in very specific situations. On the iPhone, it is good for emergencies. They call it Emergency SOS, which is rather fitting. Because satellite signals can be very specific in terms of direction, the iPhone Emergency SOS interface guides you to get the best connection to an available satellite. In emergency situations, the feature allows you to quickly send SOS messages to available emergency services via satellite. Since the low-bandwidth nature of satellite communication means it might take a few seconds to minutes for messages to get through to the right people, Apple’s Emergency SOS interface presents a quick questionnaire to assess your situation before sending a distress signal to an Apple relay station and then to the right services. The satellite technology can also be used in the Find My app, for services to easily and accurately locate you in non-cellular or WiFi situations.
The high-impact accelerometer that is newly found on the iPhone 14 is like no other accelerometer on regular smartphones. It can withstand and measure G-Force up to 256Gs. Combined with a new high dynamic range gyroscope, the new iPhone 14 packs the first ever smartphone-based Crash Detection technology. Where the Apple Watch detects fall impacts and inform your emergency contacts, the iPhone detects when you get into a severe car crash and automatically dials emergency services if the user is unable to reach their iPhones for whatever reason. The feature is also made possible by combining several existing technologies like barometer, GPS signals, and microphones which have been trained to recognize a car crash by motion and sounds.
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Source: Apple
Price and Availability
The Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus will be available in five colour options mentioned above. Storage options starts at 128GB and tops out at 512GB. Pre-orders for the Apple iPhone 14 series in the United States will begin 9th of September 2022 onward. The Apple iPhone 14 will start shipping on the 16th of September onward while its bigger brother, the iPhone 14 Plus starts shipping on the 7th of October 0nward. Malaysia will get its first taste of the new iPhone from the 23rd of September 2022 onward. Emergency SOS via satellite will not be available in regions outside of the U.S. and Canada for now. If you are in the available regions, the service is included for free for two years if you purchase an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus. The Apple iPhone 14 will be available for MYR 4,199 onward and the iPhone 14 Plus will be available from MYR 4,699 onward.
