Your iPhone 14 can help you survive a disaster.

The iPhone’s Emergency SOS via Satellite feature played a critical role in saving a family from wildfires on Maui. It’s part of a growing number of incidents where iPhones are helping rescue people from life-threatening situations.

"Many emergencies occur in remote areas where cellular coverage is not available or consistently reliable," Mark Rasmussen, senior vice president of mobility at Intelsat, a satellite provider, told Lifewire in an email interview. "This creates a challenge for first responders when unexpected events occur that require emergency response or medical attention in areas where cell phones and other connected devices cannot connect to a terrestrial network. That's why satellite is the ideal connectivity solution in these scenarios: Satellite connectivity is accessible from anywhere."

According to Michael J. Miraflor's post on X (formerly Twitter), his brother's girlfriend's niece and her family were in a vehicle when wildfires "suddenly ignited in their area." The white van had room for five people, but the lack of cell phone coverage in the area prevented them from calling for help. Fortunately, one of the van's occupants had an iPhone 14, which proved to be the key to their successful rescue from the raging fire.