New Apple Watch is a dive computer

[doctormike]

Anyone know if the satellite SOS feature of the new iPhone 14 will work on an Apple Watch ultra without the phone being nearby, assuming that you get the watch watch with it's own cell contract? If it does, that would be another huge plus for using this as a dive computer. I have carried a PLB and/or a Nautilus GPS over the years, would love to be able to do this from my wrist mounted DC:

Apple's Satellite Emergency SOS Feature May Expand to Other Regions Sooner Than We Thought

 

[vondo]

Anyone know if the satellite SOS feature of the new iPhone 14 will work on an Apple Watch ultra without the phone being nearby, assuming that you get the watch watch with it's own cell contract? If it does, that would be another huge plus for using this as a dive computer. I have carried a PLB and/or a Nautilus GPS over the years, would love to be able to do this from my wrist mounted DC:

Apple's Satellite Emergency SOS Feature May Expand to Other Regions Sooner Than We Thought

Highly doubt it. If you watched the video on how the iPhone does this, you have to point the iPhone at a satellite and track it with the phone for a couple of minutes to get your message through. This is not a panic button you just push and wait for help to arrive.

 

[doctormike]

Highly doubt it. If you watched the video on how the iPhone does this, you have to point the iPhone at a satellite and track it with the phone for a couple of minutes to get your message through. This is not a panic button you just push and wait for help to arrive.

You doubt it's available on the watch, or you doubt that it would be a useful feature for dive gear?

If you were drifting on the surface (like the situation when you would need a PLB), I think that you would have plenty of time and a very clear view of the sky to get that signal through.

 

[vondo]

You doubt it's available on the watch, or you doubt that it would be a useful feature for dive gear?

If you were drifting on the surface (like the situation when you would need a PLB), I think that you would have plenty of time and a very clear view of the sky to get that signal through.

I meant "available" but actually it's very clear it's NOT available on the watch. I have no doubt something like that would be useful if it could be packed into the watch body. You might have to take the watch off to get the range of motion needed to track a satellite, though.

The way I understand it, the feature on the phone doesn't use the cell contract or cell radio anyhow.

 

[Thunder Struck]

Yeah, it does. It's a general purpose computer that runs more than 20,000 apps.

Insofar as being a DC. For the money and what Oceanic has published for features so far, not that I can tell. For the once a year tropical diver that already owns the device, sure.

 

[doctormike]

I meant "available" but actually it's very clear it's NOT available on the watch. I have no doubt something like that would be useful if it could be packed into the watch body. You might have to take the watch off to get the range of motion needed to track a satellite, though.

The way I understand it, the feature on the phone doesn't use the cell contract or cell radio anyhow.

OK, I didn't see where it was clear that it wasn't available on the watch. I was reading this sentence from that article:

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"The Apple Watch and iPhone 14/14 Pro’s new Emergency SOS feature, which allows you to call for emergency help via satellite, is one of the more compelling additions to the company’s latest devices."​

​

Did you have a link about that? I agree that it might be harder to include that function in the watch, but I wasn't sure..

 

[doctormike]

Insofar as being a DC. For the money and what Oceanic has published for features so far, not that I can tell. For the once a year tropical diver that already owns the device, sure.

OK, maybe I misunderstood your question. I thought you asked if it did anything more than the Puck or the Cressi....

 

[vondo]

OK, I didn't see where it was clear that it wasn't available on the watch. I was reading this sentence from that article:

​

"The Apple Watch and iPhone 14/14 Pro’s new Emergency SOS feature, which allows you to call for emergency help via satellite, is one of the more compelling additions to the company’s latest devices."​

​

Did you have a link about that? I agree that it might be harder to include that function in the watch, but I wasn't sure..

Well, I think that's just a misprint in that article. If you look at this video Apple Event at 59:30 is where this feature of the iPhone 14 is described. Nothing like this mentioned in the watch discussion at the beginning of the event.

Perhaps this mode can be triggered from a watch, but you'd still need to point the phone. There are new emergency things with the watch. It can detect a car crash and make a 911 call automatically (not satellite). And the Ultra (the not-a-dive-computer one) has a siren built in.

 

[waterone]

OK, I didn't see where it was clear that it wasn't available on the watch. I was reading this sentence from that article:

​

"The Apple Watch and iPhone 14/14 Pro’s new Emergency SOS feature, which allows you to call for emergency help via satellite, is one of the more compelling additions to the company’s latest devices."​

​

Did you have a link about that? I agree that it might be harder to include that function in the watch, but I wasn't sure..

The way I have read it is that it works in combo with. Similar to the Garmin mk2i and the inReach. You can send an SOS or text with the watch, but the InReach must be nearby. If it was available with just the watch, that IMO would be an amazing feature.

 

[wnissen]

The way I have read it is that it works in combo with. Similar to the Garmin mk2i and the inReach. You can send an SOS or text with the watch, but the InReach must be nearby. If it was available with just the watch, that IMO would be an amazing feature.

Yes, for instance if you were out and about somewhere remote you could use the pairing of the phone to the watch. That's how I interpreted it. Wonder how that might work if you had a depth housing for the phone?