Satellite Internet: Apple planned to compete with Musk's Starlink
Apple is said to have considered offering its satellite communication service since 2015. The Starlink competitor then became slimmed-down iPhone functions.
Antenna for Starlink.
(Image: GamElon/Shutterstock.com)
Apple is said to have been planning its satellite internet service ten years ago. This was reported by the Silicon Valley trade magazine The Information, citing informed sources. The project was initially planned in collaboration with Boeing, with a possible launch date in 2019. However, this never materialized and the so-called Project Eagle was not pursued further due to excessive costs. In the end, Apple decided to work with partners such as Globalstar to implement simple satellite emergency services for the iPhone, including the transmission of text messages and location data.
Eagle did not come up
“Project Eagle” was therefore high up – with former hardware engineering boss Dan Riccio. Talks were then held with satellite internet providers such as OneWeb in 2018, but they were told that a regular internet service for private customers would cost between 30 and 40 billion US dollars. Apple therefore decided to switch to the emergency call function, which was first implemented with the iPhone 14 from 2022.
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In 2023, Apple is said to have again considered offering “real” internet, at least for iPhones, with a new generation of satellites. However, this would have been significantly pricier than Apple's current “emergency call” contract with Globalstar. As Apple also feared internally that such an offer would alienate its mobile phone partners, nothing came of it. Customers still pay nothing for the satellite emergency call, and text messages, emojis and reactions can also be sent via iMessage and SMS in the USA and Canada. Apple currently spends “hundreds of millions of dollars” per year on the satellite function. Managers such as software boss Craig Federighi are said to have suggested discontinuing the service, as such offers would be better suited to mobile phone providers.
Dispute with Elon Musk
The Information also reports that there were apparently massive conflicts between Apple and Starlink and its boss Elon Musk. Musk wanted SpaceX to supply the iPhone with satellite internet, allegedly for launch costs of 5 billion dollars for 18 months. After that, he wanted to collect one billion dollars at a time. There is said to have been a direct threat that Musk would cooperate with mobile phone providers – which actually happened.
In the USA, Starlink is cooperating with T-Mobile from iPhone 14 onwards. Musk is said to have demanded that Apple also make older iPhones compatible. There was also a legal dispute between Starlink / SpaceX and Globalstar: The accusation is that Globalstar is not using frequencies awarded to it and yet is acquiring new ones that others are no longer entitled to.
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