Your phone number now follows whichever iPhone you pick up, and T-Mobile wants $5 a month for it. Engadget reported the fee for iPhone Handoff, the new iOS 27 feature that lets one number live on two iPhones. The iOS 27 update was scheduled to start rolling out on September 14.
The shift is worth understanding. This is not the old Handoff that carries an email draft or a browser tab from one Apple device to another. It works at the level of the phone line itself. MacRumors describes it as an eSIM feature. Whichever phone is active gets the calls, the voicemail, the texts and iMessages, and the Find My location, and a “Switched to this iPhone” message on screen confirms it. Only one phone can hold the number at a time, so it is not two independent lines.
How it works
One phone is the main device, and MacRumors suggests making it the handset you carry most. The other is secondary. Unlock either one and the number moves to it. Setup lives in Settings under Cellular: on the second phone, start the cellular setup option and select the shared-number option, and work through the prompts on both screens. Both phones need iOS 27 or later and the same Apple ID. Digital Trends adds that they need Wi-Fi during setup and should stay close together while the shared number is added.
Some things never leave the main phone: carrier account management, plus extras such as Call Forwarding and Caller ID. An Apple Watch will not switch its pairing when the number moves, so pair it with the phone you expect to use most. Certain Wallet cards, such as transit passes and IDs, might be usable on a single phone only.
The carrier decides
Apple cannot switch this on alone. The carrier has to support the shared eSIM on its network, which means price and availability depend on who sends you the bill. Engadget said the first two takers are T-Mobile in the US and Deutsche Telekom in Germany. Engadget also took a dig at the fee, writing that it is a shame there is no un-carrier to wipe out nickel-and-dime charges.
Germany’s version costs €6.95 per month, according to MacRumors, but only on plans without multi-SIM already included. Verizon in the US and EE in the UK were due to follow later in the year. AT&T had not committed, and a spokesperson steered customers toward the carrier’s current eSIM tools instead.
The price gap is already showing. Digital Trends reported that Verizon confirmed a charge of $10 per month once it goes live, twice T-Mobile’s rate. In Britain, EE plans to bundle it free with Full Works Plus and charge £5 monthly on other eligible plans.
One practical warning from MacRumors: to stop using the feature you must contact your carrier. Deleting the eSIM from the phone may not end the billing.
Sources
- Apple's iPhone Handoff feature will cost you $5 a month on T-Mobile (Engadget)
- iPhone Handoff in iOS 27: How It Works, Pricing, and Carrier Support (MacRumors)
- Apple's iPhone Handoff is expanding, and Verizon is charging twice as much as T-Mobile (Digital Trends)
