Apple shelves major new feature ahead of release of iPhone 11

Feature would have allowed users to speak to each other without relying on traditional data connections

The iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XS on display at the Apple Regent Street store during their launch on September 21, 2018 in London, England (Getty)

Apple has postponed plans for a special "walkie-talkie" feature in its iPhones, according to a new report.

The tool would have allowed people to communicate through their phones but without relying on the data connections that iPhones and other handsets usually use.

But it has been shelved, weeks before the expected announcement of the iPhone 11 in September.

The new feature would have let one iPhone connect to another directly, through long-distance radio waves, according to a report from The Information. That would mean that people would still be able to stay in contact, even in areas where normal cellular networks are not available.

Rather than relying on traditional data connections, which can often struggle to penetrate isolated or hilly areas, the tool would have allowed people to communicate over the 900 megahertz radio spectrum. That is more traditionally used by the oil and gas industries and similar sectors, and it can be used to send messages reliably over long distances.

The feature has now been placed on hold, the website reported. While it is not clear what caused the plan to be postponed, the company recently lost the staff member who had been promoting the idea inside of Apple, the report said.

The feature is also thought to have relied on Intel's modems to work. Apple made the momentous decision to switch to rival Qualcomm's chips – and buy Intel's modem business after the company decided to shut it down in the wake of that announcement – which could have made the plan more difficult.

Apple's plans for the feature had not been previously reported. It was named "Project OGRS" within the company, according to The Information.

Apple already has a feature called "Walkie-Talkie", though it has a very different function. The tool is built into the Apple Watch and allows users to share voice messages instantly, in the same way as if they were speaking on a traditional radio, but it uses its normal connection to the internet to do so.

That feature was hit by problems last month, after it emerged that it could be used to listen in on people through their Apple Watches. It was temporarily taken offline, before being fixed and re-enabled.