In a first, iPhone 15 Pro models support India's NavIC
What's the story
Cupertino tech giant Apple has incorporated support for NavIC, India's indigenous alternative to GPS, in its iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models.
This marks the first instance of Apple including NavIC in any of its iPhones. However, the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus variants do not support this GPS alternative.
NavIC became operational in India back in 2018.
Details
NavIC: India's indigenous satellite navigation system
Developed by ISRO, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is a standalone navigation satellite system. It delivers correct positioning and timing information over India and its surrounding region.
With more than half a dozen satellites, NavIC covers the entire landmass of India.
Its applications include transportation, surveying and geodesy, location-based services, resource monitoring, personal mobility, scientific research, safety-of-life alert dissemination, and time dissemination and synchronization.
Usage
OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Realme have embraced NavIC technology
In 2022, India began urging smartphone manufacturers to offer support for NavIC within a few quarters.
Despite concerns about increased costs due to necessary hardware changes, several smartphones such as the OnePlus Nord 2T, Xiaomi's Mi 11X, 11T Pro, and Realme 9 Pro already support NavIC.
Apple's inclusion of NavIC in some of its new iPhone 15 models signifies a significant step toward broader adoption of the technology.