GPS: Readings can be used to detect speeds prior to a crash and any sudden lack of movement, as well as inform the device that it's traveling on a road.Barometer: If the air bags deploy when the windows are closed, the barometer can detect a change in air pressure.The microphones are only turned on when driving is detected, and no actual sound is recorded, Apple says. Microphones: The mics are used to detect loud sound levels that might indicate a crash.It means the devices can detect the exact moment of impact and any change in motion or trajectory of the vehicle. Motion sensors: All the devices have a three-axis gyroscope and high-g force accelerometer, which samples motion more than 3,000 times a second.Had the iPhone received those extra indicators-and had its GPS shown the cars were on a real road-the likelihood of an alert would have been greater, he said.Īpple says its crash detection feature relies on 'advanced Apple-designed motion algorithms trained with over a million hours of real-world driving and crash record data.' Stern outlined the various hardware sensors and software algorithms that assist with detecting a crash on supported iPhone and Apple Watch models: It wasn't connected to Bluetooth or CarPlay, which would have indicated the car was in use, and the vehicles might not have traveled enough distance prior to the crash to indicate driving. When I contacted Apple with the results, a company spokesman said that the testing conditions in the junkyard didn't provide enough signals to the iPhone to trigger the feature in the stopped cars. The results were mixed, with the iPhone and Apple Watch only detecting some of the crashes, which Apple said was the result of the testing conditions in the junkyard failing to provide enough 'signals' to trigger the feature every time.

Stern recruited Michael Barabe to crash his demolition derby car with a heavy-duty steel frame into two unoccupied vehicles parked in a junkyard - a 2003 Ford Taurus and a 2008 Dodge Caravan.

Download the new for apple Demolition