FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has asked Apple to enable hidden features of the FM radio chip in its iPhones. The FM radio chips would allow iPhone users to receive vital information, such as during a natural disaster, even if they are currently on a call.
Pai said in an opinion piece in the Florida Sun Sentinel titled “Allow access to hidden FM radio on smartphones,” and urged Tim Cook to enable the service on the iPhone:
"We paid for these FM radio chips when we bought those expensive Apple phones. It's time they let us turn them on."
The problem?
This is not possible on Apple, as a company spokesperson told Ars Technica:
iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models do not have FM radio chips and do not have antennas designed to support FM signals, so it is not possible to enable FM reception on these products.
There are a lot of people who have models older than the 7 though, and it's a bit strange since Apple didn't mention anything about these phones.
Knowing that many other mobile carriers support FM radio features, it would be very nice of Apple to enable the service..
