New iPhone 14 features you will Pray to God not to ever use

The Apple iPhone 14 series launched yesterday, September 8, in the much anticipated Far Out event. Everyone has been speculating about the new features and upgrades these smartphones will showcase, however disappointingly, it turned out that the iPhone 14 non-Pro models did not have any major upgrades and largely carried a similar spec sheet to the iPhone 13. But that did not mean there were no changes or addition of new features. There were, but the two biggest features are not something you would feel too excited about. In fact, they would be used in tragic or horrifying circumstances only. You would definitely pray to God that you never find yourself in a position to use them. Why? And what are these features? Read on to find out.

The iPhone 14 has been equipped with the Apple A15 Bionic chipset, the same installed in the iPhone 13, but with some performance boosts. It also keeps the same design and display of the iPhone 13, although with a slightly smaller notch. Even the cameras are kept the same at 12MP + 12MP dual rear camera setup and a 12MP front camera. However, the rear cameras get a larger sensor and the front camera gets autofocus.

The two biggest features added to the iPhone 14 are satellite connectivity and crash detection (which requires the presence of the new Apple Watch). But these are not something you can be excited about or even use as you please.

iPhone 14 new features are niche and have a very scary use case

The satellite connectivity is a feature that allows users to send an emergency text message via satellite when stuck in an area outside of mobile network coverage. The feature is essential for the times when you’re traveling in remote areas and somehow get stranded without mobile network reception and require some kind of emergency assistance. You can shoot a message to the authorities or your contact to help you out.

But during your normal life, you do not need to use satellite text messages because not only is it expensive and slow, it also requires you to be out in the open and in direct line of sight with the satellite. It’s a hectic process that a user would not want to undergo in normal circumstances.

The other feature is crash detection. When paired with the new Apple Watch, your device will automatically send notification alerts to emergency services and your emergency contact if you ever get into a car crash. While a very helpful feature, it is again something which has an extremely specific use case and cannot be used in normal situations. And yes, they can save your life in an emergency.

During the event, Apple constantly kept highlighting that the new products are an essential tool in case someone ever gets stuck in an unfortunate situation. With these features, you would not doubt that either.

But it does beg the question of how these features add to the overall smartphone experience of a user, especially considering that the iPhone 14 does not come with any major feature upgrades anyway. For a large part of Apple’s user base, these features will never see the light of the day and probably can only be considered as a fringe benefit. Yet, the strategy seems very clear. The fear of ever getting into such a scenario is what Apple is trying to use to drive its smartphone sales. Will it work? Only time will tell.