One of the benefits of using an iPhone is privacy. Apple’s software and services take some steps that others don’t in order to protect customers. iMessage is a good example. Messages sent via iMessage employ end-to-end encryption, which means that only the sender and the receiver can read the messages or open the attachments. Third parties cannot intercept or read them. This includes Apple itself, as well as partners like network operators such as T-Mobile.
Recent social media chatter suggests that giving iPhones access to the T-Mobile cellular Starlink beta is akin to letting Elon Musk poke around your phone. But you can relax because it’s not true.
(Credit: Apple)
Apple launched its safety-minded Emergency SOS via Satellite service in November 2022 and expanded that to Messages in 2024. Since then, owners of the iPhone 14 and up have been able to send messages when outside of normal cellular coverage zones.
The service is provided through an ongoing partnership with Globalstar. But Apple and Globalstar aren’t the only companies seeking to bring satellite connectivity to mobile devices.
In August 2022, T-Mobile announced a partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink to provide voice and messaging services to its customers in areas where traditional cellular service isn’t available. The first Starlink satellites for this service launched more than a year ago. This proposed service goes way beyond emergency SOS messaging. It relies on T-Mobile’s existing 1900MHz spectrum to pass signals from mobile phones to Starlink’s satellites, which then simply relay the signal to T-Mobile’s terrestrial cellular network.
(Credit: Reddit user UCF_Knight12)
T-Mobile opened the beta for public testing with SMS in December and intends to offer this service to all of its customers later this year. The beta is free and available to anyone with a compatible phone, which includes iPhones running iOS 18.3+. Once you upgrade and register for the T-Mobile beta on an iPhone 14 and up, the phone simply sees Starlink as a T-Mobile service.
What Happens When You Upgrade to iOS 18.3?
A number of social media posts, including some on TikTok, claim that installing iOS 18.3 on iPhones lets Starlink access people’s phones. This is not true.
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Apple’s iOS 18.3 does not install Starlink service on iPhones, nor does it install any Starlink apps. It only enables the connection between the iPhone and Starlink satellites via T-Mobile’s spectrum. (It also includes a bug fix you probably want to install.)
Other phones compatible with the beta include Google Pixel phones and Samsung Galaxy phones. Even though the iPhones connect through Starlink gear, Starlink—and Elon Musk—do not have access to the calls made or messages sent via the connection.
The beta is free to use for now. T-Mobile has not indicated if or how much it will charge once its satellite connectivity feature launches in full.
5 Things to Know About Starlink Satellite Internet
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About Eric Zeman
Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics
