When Apple held its annual launch occasion for the iPhone 13 in 2021, it began with a joyful video that includes jazz dancers celebrating the pure fantastic thing about California (which could be captured with an iPhone digicam, in fact).
The undertone of Apple’s iPhone 14 launch this week was darker. After zooming in on Apple’s headquarters from area, it kicked off with a video highlighting customers who wrote letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook saying that they nearly died — however have been saved by their Apple Watch calling 911.
“Dear Apple: My dad was flying our small plane to Vermont. I was asleep in the back seat. I woke up when we were crashing into the tops of the trees. The plane broke into six pieces and we were miles away from civilization in the freezing cold. Then, all of a sudden, my Apple Watch started ringing,” stated one character named Hannah.
Other characters within the quick video informed tales of falling right into a frozen stream, getting trapped inside a trash compactor and witnessing a cardiac episode in a restaurant.
Saving lives in emergency conditions was the main theme of Apple’s launch this yr, and lots of the most notable new options the corporate introduced have been oriented towards security.
The most important new iPhone functionality this yr known as “Emergency SOS via satellite,” which may ship a message for assist even when there is no cell service round for miles. Users may also share their location with household or mates within the Find My app.
Apple’s instance of how the characteristic works confirmed a hiker with a damaged leg on high of a mountain ridge calling for a helicopter. Later, Apple talked about winding again roads as one other place the place iPhone customers may be out of vary.
But this characteristic might be helpful in outdoors wilderness settings. Wildfires, hurricanes and different disasters can reduce cell service, and being able to contact emergency providers or inform your loved ones the place you might be can actually be a lifesaver in these circumstances.
Another instance: Apple’s $799 or extra watch, the Ultra, has an 86-decibel siren that may be heard 600 toes away, and compass options that enable the person to retrace their steps with out the web.
As with the satellite tv for pc characteristic, Apple marketed it as a useful instrument for backcountry adventurers, however it is also helpful in additional mundane settings. Imagine sounding the alarm as a deterrent to an attacker, or utilizing the retracing characteristic to search out your manner again to your automobile after a catastrophe in your group has interrupted cell service.
Apple additionally introduced this week that iPhones and Apple Watches, utilizing movement sensors, can now name 911 in the event that they detect a automobile crash has occurred.
“We truly hope you never need it, but that you will feel a little bit safer every time you get in the car,” an Apple presenter stated, moments earlier than displaying photos of a driver getting hit by an air bag in sluggish movement after crashing.
Apple’s launch occasions are designed to do one factor: construct demand for Apple’s new merchandise. The firm now desires to make the iPhone much more “essential” for its customers by way of security options, giving customers causes to not swap to competing Android units.
Will these options meaningfully improve iPhone adoption and gross sales? It seems, Apple has not less than thought-about the chance previously.
In a disclosure with the ESG group CDP printed in January 2019, Apple representatives wrote about potential enterprise alternatives stemming from local weather change, citing a earlier model of the “SOS” characteristic for instance of Apple’s work to construct options for emergency conditions.
“As severe weather events become more frequent, consumers may come to value more highly the immediate and ubiquitous availability of reliable mobile computing devices for use in situations where transportation, power and other services may be temporarily interrupted,” Apple representatives wrote.
Apple cited the 9/11 catastrophe and “extreme weather events” like hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey which might be occurring extra often.
“Over time, as people begin to experience severe weather events with greater frequency, we expect an increasing need for confidence and preparedness in the arena of personal safety and the well-being of loved ones,” Apple wrote within the disclosure.
Apple’s not the one shopper electronics firm that’s growing security options for its units. But Apple’s units even have a strong lineup of well being options, like fall detection for seniors and coronary heart monitoring, which underscore its total security pitch.
“iPhone is there when you need it most,” one presenter stated on the launch occasion. “That confidence is especially important in moments where your safety is at risk.”
We could also be seeing the beginning of a brand new messaging technique at Apple: Its units are those you need when issues go flawed.
Source: www.cnbc.com”