The next iPhone could have the internet connection via satellite, that is, free from any presence of ground signals. This is claimed by one of the most reliable market analysts, Ming-chi Kuo, who has often guessed the forecasts. But what does satellite internet mean?
There have been telephony and data connection systems with satellite phones for years: big, expensive and uncomfortable. Companies like Globalstar, which would have partnered with Apple on the iPhone 13, run services of this type, even if the real revolution is taking place elsewhere. In fact, in the last four years Elon Musk, the entrepreneur driving Tesla (electric cars) and SpaceX (aerospace), has built and put 1,433 satellites into orbit and plans to reach at least 1,600 by the end of the year and then to five thousand once fully operational. The satellites, which are in a relatively low orbit (500 km high) allow two-way communication with broadband internet and Elon Musk has started the commercialization phase of this service all over the planet (more or less) through the company. Starlink. The advantage? One gigabit per second of connection by simply placing an antenna on the roof. Or on the mobile phone?
According to Ming-chi Kuo, Apple has for now thought mainly about the possibility of making phone calls, rather than broadband internet connection. And it would have integrated an antenna and a chip to support the so-called LEO, the Low-Earth Orbit satellites. Satellites that, as in the case of those of Globalstar but also of Elon Musk or one of his competitors (such as Immarsat and various others for satellite telephony, or OneWeb and Viasat for data transmission), and which would guarantee, if the telephone it is located outside the buildings and in any case without obstructions towards the top, the possibility of having the connection even in the total absence of terrestrial signal. Ideal for those who are on a boat, in the high mountains, in a desert area where no repeaters have been installed.
Kuo argues that this feature would come with an early change for now only for Apple to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X60 modem, the connection chip that the company should use while waiting to build one internally (as is already the case for processors) using the know-how accumulated also thanks to the acquisition of Intel’s modem division which took place last year and which should in any case allow Apple to completely free itself from the supply of “external” chips for the critical components of its phones and tablets.
The choice made by Tim Cook would be in line with the technological possibilities. Elon Musk’s service requires relatively large motorized antennas (slightly smaller than the satellite dish for Sky) and does not provide for the user to be able to move because he is assigned a geographically located “cell” of a few hundred square meters that is served. in turn by the satellites that pass over its position. That is, the service would not be suitable for those on the go.
Instead, Cook would have thought of the traditional satellite telephony service, integrated with the chip and perhaps with the possibility of connecting a passive antenna externally, perhaps using the telephone’s magnetic connection. The feature, which would be available to Apple, would also be rolled out later by other phone manufacturers when Qualcomm will market the new Snapdragon X65 modem chip in the course of 2022.
According to Kuo, however, the real surprise would be another. The chip for the satellite connection would only initially be applied to the iPhone, but it would become a feature for all Apple’s “external” devices, from the augmented reality glasses that the company is expected to present in 2022 to the smart car that is being talked about for years but that would finally be in the pipeline, and other products are not excluded.
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