People who have an iPhone in Japan can now use Apple Messages via satellite for iPhone 14 models or newer releases. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 also now lets users who don’t have any internet or cellular connection utilize the satellite to message people.
When trying to send a message when a user has no Wi-Fi or cellular connection, iPhone owners in Japan are given a prompt that asks them to connect to the closest satellite. When you connect, you can start receiving and sending SMS and iMessages.
Japan currently has access to other satellite features like location sharing in Find My app and the emergency SOS via satellite feature, with Message via satellite as a new addition. To access the free satellite features on your iPhone, you’d need iOS 18 or a newer version, and you have to have at least watchOS 26 on the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
