iPhone Handoff, the iOS 27 feature that moves one phone number between two iPhones, will cost $10 a month on Verizon. T-Mobile charges $5. AT&T has no plans, and no Brazilian carrier has a date.
Verizon will charge $10 a month for iPhone Handoff, the iOS 27 feature that lets two iPhones share one phone number. The carrier listed the price in its iPhone Duo announcement on October 16 and said support is “coming soon.” It gave no start date.
That makes Verizon the most expensive of the big US carriers that have answered. T-Mobile, Apple’s only US launch partner for the feature, charges $5 a month. AT&T has signaled it has no near-term plans. It told CNET it is focusing on its existing eSIM activation and transfer options, 9to5Mac reported.
How iPhone Handoff works
One iPhone is the main device and the other is the secondary. Calls, voicemail, messages and Find My location follow whichever iPhone you unlock, according to Apple’s support page. Only one phone has the number active at a time.
Both iPhones need iOS 27, the same Apple Account and Messages in iCloud turned on. The number has to be on an eSIM from a supported carrier, so a physical SIM card won’t work. Verizon names the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo as compatible models. Apple’s page doesn’t list models.
Apple’s own fine print lists the limits that matter for work phones:
- Your Apple Watch stays with its paired iPhone. Pick up the other phone and the watch can lose calls, messages and notifications.
- Some Wallet items, including corporate badges and IDs, may work on only one device at a time.
- Call forwarding, caller ID and account settings are managed on the main iPhone only.
- Some third-party apps may sign you out on one phone when you sign in on the other.
- Turning it off takes a call to your carrier. Apple warns that deleting the eSIM alone may not stop the charges.
What it costs, carrier by carrier
| Carrier | Monthly price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile (US) | $5 | Live |
| Verizon (US) | $10 | “Coming soon,” no date |
| AT&T (US) | None | No plans announced |
| Telekom (Germany) | €6.95, free on MagentaMobil L and XL | Live |
| EE (UK) | £5, free on Full Works Plus | Announced, no date |
Verizon’s price comes from its own announcement. The other prices come from MacRumors and 9to5Mac. Apple said in September that Verizon would add the feature before the end of 2026, MacRumors reported.
Brazil: three carriers said yes, none has a date
Claro, TIM and Vivo, Brazil’s three largest mobile carriers, told Tecnoblog in September that they plan to offer iPhone Handoff. TIM said it would arrive “in the coming months.” Vivo said it is studying it. Claro said it would do the technical work once Apple opens the feature to more countries. None of the three gave a price.
As of October 18, Apple’s support page still lists only two carriers: T-Mobile in the US and Telekom in Germany.
What it means if you run a remote team
The clear use case is the person who carries two iPhones: a company phone and a personal one, or an iPhone Duo at the desk and a smaller iPhone for travel. Handoff keeps one number on both. It doesn’t add a second number, so it won’t keep work calls apart from personal ones. Dual SIM still does that job.
Price it per person. On Verizon, Handoff costs $120 a year per line. On T-Mobile, it’s $60. A 10-person team on Verizon would pay $1,200 a year for it. Approve it for the people who switch phones every day and skip it for everyone else.
Check the watch before you switch it on. Handoff won’t move an Apple Watch to the second phone, so anyone who takes calls or tracks sleep on one should keep the paired iPhone nearby. Enzo’s long-term Apple Watch Ultra review covers what the watch does on a normal workday.
For teams in Brazil, there’s nothing to set up yet. No carrier has a date, and new iPhone Duo orders don’t arrive in Brazil until February 1 anyway.