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FCC Chief Tells Apple To Turn on iPhone's FM Radio Chip (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fair-concern dept.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai pushed Apple on Friday to activate the FM radio chips in the iPhone. From a report: In the wake of three major hurricanes that have wiped out communications for millions of people over the past month, Pai issued a statement urging Apple, one of the largest makers of cellphones in the US, to "reconsider its position, given the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria." FM radios that are already included in every phone could be used to access "life-saving information" during disasters, he said. For years the majority of smartphones sold in the US have included FM radios, but most of them have been turned off so that you couldn't use the function. Why? Mobile customers would be a lot less likely to subscribe to streaming music services if they could just listen to traditional, free broadcast radio. This incentive is especially true for Apple, which has a streaming music service. Apple said in a statement: "iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models do not have FM radio chips in them nor do they have antennas designed to support FM signals, so it is not possible to enable FM reception in these products."

3 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Turn it on, will not work by WillRobinson · · Score: 5, Informative

    No internal antenna.

    1. Re:Turn it on, will not work by freeze128 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Head of FCC tells Apple to bring back the headphone jack. That's what the headline should say.

  2. Re:tell them ALL to do it by freeze128 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was curious about NextRadio so I installed it. My device (LG G2) wasn't on the supported list, but it detected my location, and showed me my local FM stations. They played great.... I was suspicious.

    So I turned off WiFi and Mobile data, and the stations stopped dead. This fucker was ***STREAMING*** audio to my phone over a data connection, not using the FM tuner. Also, for some reason, it needs access to your files and photos.

    Unsurprisingly, I uninstalled it.