Report: Apple Planned to Offer Starlink-Like Home Internet Service

Apple had plans to connection a Starlink-like outer location net work successful collaboration with Boeing, The Information reports.


Starting successful 2015, Apple held discussions with Boeing astir "Project Eagle," a program to motorboat a work to supply wireless net services to iPhones and homes. The companies would person launched thousands of satellites into orbit astir the Earth to beam net services down to the surface. Apple intended to merchantability antennas that users could connect to their windows to disperse net connectivity passim their homes.

Apple believed the program would assistance supply a much seamless experience, with mobile carriers seen arsenic "necessary but inconvenient partners" that held backmost the iPhone. Similar to the modulation to Apple silicon, Apple saw Project Eagle arsenic different mode to trim its reliance different companies. Apple spent $36 cardinal investigating retired a Project Eagle conception astatine a installation successful El Segundo, California.

The work was primitively scheduled to motorboat successful 2019, but it ne'er saw the airy of day. CEO Tim Cook was acrophobic that Project Eagle would endanger Apple's narration with the telecoms industry. He besides expressed concerns implicit its important outgo with an unclear near-term concern case. In 2016, Apple canceled the task and elder unit progressive successful it near the company.

Former hardware engineering main Dan Riccio past formed a radical looking astatine caller wireless opportunities that would assistance differentiate Apple's devices. In 2018, Apple conducted talks with outer net providers specified arsenic OneWeb astir investing successful them to deploy a location net work via satellites. OneWeb purportedly told Apple that the work would outgo $30 cardinal and $40 cardinal to deliver, and akin concerns to those that killed Project Eagle enactment an extremity to the ambition.

The radical past refocused astir the thought of offering outer communications to iPhones successful distant areas that were not already served by accepted cellular networks. Apple launched its Emergency SOS via Satellite diagnostic successful 2022.

In 2023, Apple's outer squad projected to usage a caller procreation of satellites to present full, unrestricted net work to iPhones successful distant locations. The diagnostic would person outgo Apple importantly much than Globalstar's existing work for Apple, expanding from respective twelve satellites to hundreds. Apple yet again declined to connection it owed to concerns that it would choler mobile carriers.

Today, immoderate Apple employees and elder executives question the semipermanent viability of the ‌iPhone‌'s outer connectivity features. Former Apple employees who worked connected the task accidental the Globalstar web is already outdated, slow, and constricted compared to SpaceX, and volition proceed to beryllium done the adjacent decade.

Apple has not yet started charging ‌iPhone‌ users for outer connectivity features, and has extended the escaped entree play done astatine slightest September 2025. The company's reluctance to complaint customers is seemingly related to fearfulness that it could trigger the U.S. authorities to modulate Apple similar a telecommunications carrier, which could unit the institution to physique surveillance backmost doors into iMessage.

The existing outer connectivity features outgo Apple hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Some apical executives, including bundle main Craig Federighi and caput of firm improvement Adrian Perica, person advocated discontinuing the features. They reason that customers are much apt to motion up for outer features done their mobile carriers.
This article, "Report: Apple Planned to Offer Starlink-Like Home Internet Service" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

Discuss this article successful our forums