In recent years, Apple’s presentations have begun to feature a new kind of messaging: Without an Apple Watch, you could get mauled by a bear, drown in a sinking car, get stuck in a trash compactor, or even succumb to hypothermia after falling through one . an icy lake.
These disasters have always been averted by the presence of an Apple Watch. But this year, Apple’s message is changing again: It’s not just the Apple Watch that can save you from possible death, but also the iPhone.
At Apple’s iPhone 15 showcase, the company opened with an ad that intertwined the life-saving potential of both the Apple Watch and the Apple Watch. And The iPhone. The video showed people celebrating their birthdays with friends and family, blowing out candles and, of course, receiving “happy birthday wishes” on their iPhones.
As the ad introduced the key players, subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen, such as the text: ‘Apple Watch notified her of a low heart rate. We went to the hospital and underwent crucial pacemaker surgery.” The following described a person using the iPhone’s Emergency SOS feature to be rescued while stuck in a snowstorm, while another said a pregnant woman was rushed to the hospital for an emergency delivery after her Apple Watch recorded a high heartbeat had been detected.
These follow recent ads from Apple showing how an iPhone 14 could save you if your car flips over or you’re stranded on a mountain.
The ads aren’t exactly bad: there are dozens of real-life reports of people being saved thanks to their iPhone or watch. After introducing Emergency SOS to its Apple Watch in 2016, the company added fall detection, an electrocardiogram, and even a blood oxygen sensor. Last year, Apple announced a new Crash Detection feature for the Apple Watch and iPhone 14, which automatically alerts emergency services when it detects that you’ve been in a car accident (or are just on a wild rollercoaster ride). And last year, Apple added a feature to iPhones that allows users to contact emergency services via satellite when there is no cellular connection.
Fitness tracking and connectivity on your wrist no longer make the Apple Watch stand out from the competition
These are undeniably great features, but there’s a reason why the way Apple advertises them often makes us uncomfortable: they’re selling us a product out of concern for our own mortality: buy an Apple device or risk your life. They’re ads that convey fear rather than hope, and they stand in stark contrast to the ads Apple used to release about its devices. A watch ad from two years ago shows that people like to use their Apple Watch to improve their fitness; an early viewing ad shows people using the device to connect with loved ones.
There may be a reason for this changing approach. Features like fitness tracking and connectivity on your wrist no longer set the Apple Watch apart from the competition.
Rivals like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 and Google’s Pixel Watch have overtaken the Apple Watch in terms of health tracking sensors, but they still haven’t added Crash Detection. The same goes for the iPhone. Apple may have only just added USB-C and periscope cameras, but Android phones still don’t have satellite connectivity (although that’s likely coming soon). Not only that, but the addition of new safety features including satellite connectivity, roadside assistance, and crash detection help differentiate Apple’s newer devices from older ones, potentially giving users a good reason to upgrade.
On Tuesday, Apple revealed yet another reason why we always want our Apple devices with us: Roadside Assistance. The service, which is compatible with iPhone 14 and newer, lets you contact AAA via satellite in case your car breaks down while on the road. While Apple doesn’t outline a catastrophic scenario where you might need to use Roadside Assistance, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one depicted in an ad soon.
These safety features can also make money for Apple. Apple’s services sector achieved record revenue last quarter thanks to more than 1 billion paying subscribers to Apple Music, TV Plus, iCloud Plus and the bundled Apple One service. Soon, this list of services will also include Apple’s satellite connectivity and roadside assistance features, as the company’s satellite service is available free for iPhone 14 users for only two years, and is offering the same promotion for roadside assistance on the iPhone 15.
We still don’t know how much Apple will charge users after that trial period, which ends next year for iPhone 14 users. But Apple seems confident that once they have a customer, they won’t pass up these devices. “They’re with us all the time,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said when talking about the watch and the iPhone. “And if you left either one at home, I bet you’d go back and get it.” If your life depended on it, who wouldn’t?