THIS year, Apple revealed a new smartwatch that lets you send texts and contact emergency services through a satellite.
But a brainy feature like that doesn’t appear out of thin air. It’s created at secret labs behind closed doors in California – and I’ve had a peek inside.
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Apple gave me a rare tour of the special labs that the iPhone maker uses to test its powerful wireless gear out at the company’s HQ in Cupertino, California.
And that includes the new satellite-whispering, 5G-toting Apple Watch Ultra 3, which now has seemingly endless ways to save your life.
For context, the iPhone has had the ability to summon emergency support via satellites for a few years now.
You can also use it to send texts or share your location with pals.
But the iPhone isn’t always the perfect emergency device.
If you’re out in the wilderness without signal and you get into a spot of bother, you might drop your iPhone, or be unable to reach it.
Or maybe it’s totally out of charge, while your Apple Watch Ultra 3 is still going strong with its 42-hour battery life (rising to 72 hours in Low Power Mode).
Of course saving your life with phone signal is serious business.
If you’re going to serve up an emergency contact feature, you better be sure it works.
In a bid to get its wireless connectivity on the Apple Watch in ship shape, Apple uses several different types of chambers.
The first two rooms I enter are called anechoic chambers.
Number one is a radio-silent chamber covered in soft wall spikes that absorb rather than reflect. It looks a bit like a death trap – but the walls are actually more spongy than lethal.
If I was locked inside with the door shut, I’d hear nothing at all.
I’ve been inside them before (at Logitech in Switzerland and at Dyson in Wiltshire) and it’s a strange feeling. It’s so quiet that it’s almost uncomfortable.
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It’s a bit like when you dunk your head underwater. Your ears just don’t know how to react.
Some people say they can even hear their own heart beating. I haven’t experienced that – but I can totally imagine it to be true.
Anyway, Apple uses this to test the antenna performance while removing any outside interference.
The second room was also an anechoic chamber, but this one was set up to take a human.
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After all, the Apple Watch is something you wear.
So Apple also needs a room that they can plonk a person in wearing the watch, and then using it.
After all, your watch’s radio and antenna are meant to communicate with satellites 800 miles above Earth and moving at 15,000mph an hour.
I got to sit in this chamber on a moving chair that rotated. To me, it felt like a very boring theme park ride. But in reality, getting the Apple Watch signals right could mean the difference between life and death.
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The third room was probably the most impressive.
That’s because the first two were fairly small – maybe the size of a small meeting room at an office.
But the third room – the GNSS chamber – was positively cavernous.
GNSS stands for Global Navigation Satellite System. And the GNSS chamber lets Apple test smartwatch performance by simulating any location on Earth.
HOW TO USE APPLE WATCH ULTRA 3’S EMERGENCY SOS
Here’s the official Apple guide…
“First, try calling your local emergency number,” Apple explains.
“Even if your normal cellular carrier network isn’t available, you might be able to make the call.
“If your call won’t connect, you can text emergency services via satellite by tapping Emergency Text via Satellite.
“You can also go to Messages to text the local emergency number, then tap Emergency Services.
“Remember that while off-grid, satellite features aren’t available on Apple Watch Ultra 3 if your iPhone is nearby and in Airplane Mode.”
Then follow these steps:
- Tap Report Emergency.
- Using simple taps, answer the emergency questions to best describe your situation.
- Choose to notify your emergency contacts that you contacted emergency services, along with your location and the nature of your emergency.
- To connect to a satellite, follow the onscreen instructions.
- After you’re connected, continue following the onscreen instructions to stay connected while you send your message to emergency services.
Note: For satellite connectivity, you need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and horizon.
Picture Credit: Sean Keach
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When I went in, Apple was simulating a remote part of Alaska.
And they’re trying to see if the Apple Watch matches up to the location they’ve set the GNSS chamber as.
That way, they can see how accurately the Apple Watch performs – and if it needs any tweaking.
These rooms probably cost millions of dollars. Maybe even tens of millions.
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But they do an important job: making sure your Apple Watch works when it needs to.
And that’s especially important when you consider that the Apple Watch isn’t just a smartwatch, but a life-preserver.
So spare a thought for the dizzy Apple employees who spin around in strange echo-less chambers to hopefully keep us out of harm’s way.
Godspeed.
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