Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iOS 18.3 Adds Starlink Support to T-Mobile iPhones
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Ohh yea, the same guy who turned twitter/x into a cesspool now wants to give mobile phone users access to a global communications network as an altruistic gesture. Im pretty dumb but even i can see he wants ur data and to create a global surveillance apparatus.
Everything on your iphone, stays with Musk.
This is gonna end up killing apples brand and privacy push.
Everything on your iphone, stays with Musk.
This is gonna end up killing apples brand and privacy push.
They won't even have tried. The Russians are making extensive use of Starlink to coordinate and launch attacks on Ukraine these days.
Russia’s illicit Starlink terminals help power its advance in Ukraine
Ukraine’s outgunned and outmanned army had one major advantage over its enemy: internet through Starlink terminals. Now the Russians have it, too.
www.washingtonpost.com
Why is it any better to consolidate all this power into the hands of one billionaire instead of governments. Both can become corrupt and exhibit totalitarian behaviour. So I’m not at all convinced this is the magic bullet you think it is.
Indeed…
Watching from the outside, it seems that the current American leader and the head of DOGE (you know, the department hilariously named after his favourite untraceable and untaxable crypto) is keen to make sure only their version of “free speech “is heard.
One outcome is that this version of free speech is transmitted across the world. The other outcome is that the countries involved start feeling extremely threatened and behaving in dangerous ways. The Chinese government isn’t developing anti-satellite weapons for fun.
There is a reason that politics has historically played out carefully and thoughtfully with experienced diplomats.
Watching from the outside, it seems that the current American leader and the head of DOGE (you know, the department hilariously named after his favourite untraceable and untaxable crypto) is keen to make sure only their version of “free speech “is heard.
One outcome is that this version of free speech is transmitted across the world. The other outcome is that the countries involved start feeling extremely threatened and behaving in dangerous ways. The Chinese government isn’t developing anti-satellite weapons for fun.
There is a reason that politics has historically played out carefully and thoughtfully with experienced diplomats.
Well the consolidation opf power is concerning, but the fact remains tha ( in th US and canada for now) you can now send/receive text where you before han 0 coverage. And you don't need a special phone or an additional subscription to do it and in an emergency this can literately be a lifesaver. Ofc if you have a contract with anyone but T-moblie you're hosed but people know this when they pick a telco so I see no forther issue
It's so unfortunate that it's linked to T-Mobile, they've become the poster child for bad security practices, and have leaked my personal data on multiple occasions in the last 5 years. I don't think I can ever trust them again enough to be a customer again.
Can one still say triggered on the forum? Asking for a friend 🙂
Verizon/AT&T will have text/voice/usable data soon enough with AST SpaceMobile, the more robust solution. Beta feedback on this Starlink solution (which is the SWARM IP they hastily added to their satellites) isn’t too great- ~3mbps across devices within a zone.
That’s compared to ASTS which is touting 120mbps per device once their full constellation of satellites are up for coverage. 24/7 coverage will start in the US once they hit ~40 satellites.
That’s compared to ASTS which is touting 120mbps per device once their full constellation of satellites are up for coverage. 24/7 coverage will start in the US once they hit ~40 satellites.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Offline maps work well.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
His last reply to a “what R U doing?” text would be better than most… and he could use latest emoji updates if they finally include cannibal, panther, witch doctor, etc.🎉🎉
Indeed. It’s certainly not funny. People will never learn will they. History shall repeat itself.
Similar situation here but uniquely I had people on both sides of the war in my family. Both sets of descendants find his antics disgusting and intolerable.
Any sensible person should do what we did with fascists in the late 30s here in the UK. Defence Regulation 18B.
In the mean time we have feet to vote with.
Starlink is far better and higher bandwidth I believe. I could text during the Verizon outage last year, but not send photos. Life is at risk if I can't send photos of what is killing me, but how do I get a picture of inflation anyway?About Messages via satellite on your iPhone - Apple Support
With iPhone 14 or later, you can send iMessages or SMS messages via satellite when you’re off the grid with no cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.support.apple.com
They did with their satellite service (Globalstar). It was added in IOS 18. I'm wondering how the T-Mobile/SpaceX deal is different, might just be better access since i'm guessing Starlink has more satellites.
Edit:
It looks like Tmobile/Starlink are planning to add voice later and the messages are just the first in the beta. So nothing groundbreaking now besides extra satellites but in the future it could be a nice perk for tmobile users.
US sanctions have been to penalize Russia, not Ukraine. That move was a huge gift to Russia. It badly hurt the Ukrainians. What US sanctions are you referring to?
Why do you think it's un-jammable? That is already being done:
Russia, in New Push, Increasingly Disrupts Ukraine’s Starlink Service
Russia has deployed advanced tech to interfere with Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Ukrainian officials said, leading to more outages on the northern front battle line.
Will there be a way to opt out of Starlink connectivity once it's out of beta? If not, I'll be leaving T-Mobile. I don't want to be part of anything Elon is doing.
I watched Netflix via Starlink on a Hawaiian Airlines flight from California last year. That was higher quality/lower latency than I get at home.
Of course, that's really a best case scenario for satellite internet where I'm 1000 miles from the nearest land, so the plane probably had several satellites where the plane I was on was the only thing they could communicate with.
(Note that Starlink is orbiting at 200-500 miles up, so each satellite can see a lot less than a satellite in geosynchronous orbit which is where other satellite internet constellations sit... the upswing is it means much lower latency and lower energy requirements.)
