Satellite Weather is Coming in iOS 26
Credit: NASA | Jesse Hollington
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Apple has been on a roll with its satellite services over the past three years. Since launching Emergency SOS via satellite alongside the iPhone 14 lineup in 2022, new satellite-based services have been added with each annual iOS release, and it doesn’t look like this year will be an exception, with reports that Apple plans to add Weather into the mix.
Emergency SOS via satellite was first switched on in iOS 16.2 in November 2022. However, only the iPhone 14 models had the necessary satellite radios to take advantage of it; unlike Starlink, Apple’s services use traditional L-band and S-band satellite frequencies.
Naturally, all iPhone models that followed included these satellite capabilities, but Apple didn’t stop at Emergency SOS. That initial release also included the ability to report your location in the Find My app via satellite. Then, in 2023, iOS 17 introduced Roadside Assistance via satellite, and last year’s iOS 18 release gave us an even more practical feature: Messages via satellite.
That’s not bad for a communications service Apple still technically offers for free. The only cost of entry is an iPhone 14 or later; everything else is ready to go at no additional cost — for now, at least.
Apple has left the door open to eventually charging for these services. When it announced Emergency SOS via satellite, it said it would be “free for two years after the activation of an iPhone 14.” That same deal was later extended to newer models, all of which are satellite-capable, as well as Roadside Assistance and Messages via satellite.
However, even though the iPhone 14 was released nearly three years ago, Apple has yet to charge for its satellite services; in November 2023, it announced that it would extend the free satellite features into late 2025. It also hasn’t announced a pricing model, so it will be interesting to see what it does this fall when both iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 early adopters reach the end of the trial period.
While it’s not hard to imagine Apple continuing to offer the Emergency SOS aspect of the feature at no additional charge due to its critical value in helping to save lives, features like Messages via satellite seem like an eminently chargeable feature, and if rumors are true, iOS 26 is going to go even further in that direction.
While Apple hasn’t offered any official word on this, and I can’t find it in the first iOS 26 beta, the folks at Macworld have discovered references in the code that suggest iPhone users will be able to receive “Weather Updates via Satellite” when they’re otherwise off the grid.
There isn’t much information beyond a few code strings, but those are enough to suggest Apple is working on something. This will likely work the same as other satellite-based features, requiring you to be outdoors and able to point your iPhone at the sky to lock onto a satellite before you can receive a weather update, but it’s not hard to see how it could be an invaluable feature for people on long-distance outdoor treks where extreme weather conditions could be a problem.
Even if Apple is ready to roll this out in iOS 26, its scope may still be limited. Emergency SOS via satellite took a while to expand beyond the US and Canada, but it’s since expanded to 15 other countries. That’s because Apple still needs to partner with the necessary emergency services organizations to enable them to answer the calls. Roadside assistance and Messages via satellite have also been slow to roll out beyond North American shores for the same reasons — even messaging requires gateways as the messages are processed by Apple’s satellite network before they’re delivered to the carriers, which need to know to send any replies back along that same path.
Still, as a passive service, weather updates could become one of the first satellite features to roll out more globally. Apple already provides the data for the Weather app, so it shouldn’t be a stretch for it to deliver that same data via a satellite connection.
Apple may be planning to wait until the fall to announce the new satellite weather feature so it can do so alongside the Apple Watch Ultra 3. This year’s premium wearable is rumored to be gaining satellite connectivity, and weather reports seem like a natural fit for an Apple Watch Ultra, where outdoor adventurers could get the latest weather updates with a glance at their wrist no matter how far away they are from civilization.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
