Wait, the iPhone has a radio?

UPDATED 4:10 p.m. PT with information from Apple as well as details about iPhone usage. 

The federal government is pleading with Apple to activate FM radio chips inside iPhones for the purposes of public safety.

But Apple's response may burst the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) bubble: some iPhones don't even have the chips installed. 

As the events of Hurricane's Harvey, Irma, and Maria proved, cell phone networks are susceptible to widespread failure. But when cell networks fail, radio remains as a steadfast and reliable communicator of critical emergency information. Hence why the FCC wants iPhones to have working radio chips.  Read more...