The new iPhone 14 has a new car crash detection feature

Tech giant Apple just unveiled its latest smartphones and smartwatches series this week, the former branded as the iPhone 14. Amongst the upgrades and innovations highlighted during its glitzy product presentation, Apple also noted a newly added car crash detection feature in these devices too.

“To create the algorithm, data was collected from these new motion sensors at professional crash test labs with common passenger cars in simulated real-world accidents, including head-on, rear-end, side-impact, and rollovers,” said Apple in their statement about the new car crash detection feature.

Apple further adds that “the advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data provide even better accuracy."

This feature works similarly as how Apple’s fall detection does in its current generation devices. If the devices detect that the user is involved in a severe car crash, they will automatically notify emergency contacts and services should the user fail to respond to the on-screen prompt within 10 seconds.

As to how it actually detects, it leverages on three capabilities brimmed in the iPhone 14: a barometer that reads changes in cabin air pressure, a GPS module that inputs speed data changes, as well as a microphone that’s tuned to detect specific loud noises and acoustic signatures of a car crash.

As for the Apple Watch, the car crash detection also leverages upon the new and more powerful gyroscope and accelerometer that Apple brimmed it with. According to Apple, it claims that the latter is the highest dynamic range accelerometer ever fitted into any smartwatch too.

Additionally, when both the new iPhone 14 and Apple Watch work in tandem, the emergency notification will appear on the watch instead. The reasoning behind this is that the watch is more likely to be in closer proximity to the user. The actual emergency call, however, will be made through the iPhone.

Apart from the new crash detection feature, there’s a faster and more powerful new A16 Bionic chip processor for the iPhone 14, plus new operating systems for both the new iPhone and Apple Watch series.

Regarding availability, Malaysians can start placing their pre-orders for the iPhone 14 from Malaysia Day (Sept 16) onwards. Depending on variant and storage option, the iPhone 14 commands anywhere between RM4,199 to RM8,299. Compared to the outgoing Apple iPhone 13, prices have hiked slightly by RM300 to RM700.

The new generation Apple Watch Series 8, on the other hand, sees its official Malaysian pricing already announced, which ranges between RM1,199 and RM3,799. Its local availability, however, remains unannounced at the time of writing.