Apple iPhone 15 Pro Models Now Support India's NavIC Navigation System

Apple unveiled its latest iPhone 15 series during its 'Wonderlust' event on September 12. The new lineup includes several notable upgrades like a USB-C port, titanium build (Pro models), camera improvements, and the new Dynamic Island feature on all models.

However, the biggest change comes in the form of NavIC support on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models. NavIC stands for Navigation with Indian Constellation and is India's satellite navigation system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

This marks the first time Apple has added support for NavIC on any iPhone model. The move aligns with India's push for greater adoption of its homegrown navigation alternative to GPS. ISRO started deploying NavIC satellites between 2013-2018, and it currently consists of three satellites in geostationary orbit and four in geosynchronous rotation.

While Apple hasn't specified the exact NavIC features it will enable, the official tech specs page for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max confirms the addition of NavIC support. However, the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models don't support NavIC.

The global iPhone 15 Pro variants also list NavIC and other navigation systems like GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou.

The Indian government has been pushing smartphone companies to enable NavIC support on devices sold in India. Qualcomm and ISRO entered into an agreement in 2019 to produce chipsets supporting NavIC. In 2020, Qualcomm announced Snapdragon 720G, 662 and 460 with support for NavIC, and today, it supplies 12+ chipsets that support India's indigenous satellite system.

NavIC has seven satellites and covers India up to 1,500 km beyond its boundaries. With NavIC support, the iPhone 15 Pro models can tap into this indigenous navigation system for location and mapping data across India.