Apple continues to dance around the main court and is yet to take the decisive shot which is launching a fully satellite-based iPhone. The latest news remains an incremental step: Apple is working on satellite-powered Apple Maps, APIs for third-party satellite connectivity, and enhanced photo messaging features. All these still depend heavily on its partner, Globalstar. But the twist in the story is fascinating, Globalstar itself may be up for sale, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has reportedly emerged as a possible buyer.
Apple is developing a series of new satellite features for the iPhone and Apple Watch, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources. Planned upgrades include a satellite-powered version of Apple Maps, a new API that would allow third-party developers to embed satellite connectivity into Apple apps and enhanced photo messaging capabilities. However, Apple would need to work closely with its satellite partner, Globalstar, to bring these premium features to market. Meanwhile, Globalstar is exploring a potential sale and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as a potential buyer.
When Apple eventually releases a satellite iPhone under the same form factor and at a consumer-friendly price, the world will begin to grasp the true strategic depth of what Musk has built in SpaceX. Because only SpaceX, through its vast Starlink constellation, currently has the infrastructure to deliver global satellite coverage at the scale and latency consumer smartphones demand.
Two years ago, I wrote here that “By the 2030s, I expect the satellite era to be here at scale.” That thesis remains firm from the African angle. Every decade, technology resets the architecture of communication: the 2000s gave us voice telephony, the 2010s birthed mobile internet, and the 2020s became the era of application utilities. The 2030s will belong to satellite-anchored ecosystems.
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A massive disintermediation is coming. What GSM operators did to CDMA networks, satellite constellations will do to some terrestrial mobile carriers. When cost and coverage converge under low-Earth-orbit efficiency, competition will not be national but orbital. Telcos in Africa and across the developing world must prepare. Because soon, connectivity will not come from towers, but from the skies. It takes just Apple to switch and the era will begin.
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