Verizon has confirmed the Verizon iPhone Handoff fee will be $10 a month, making it the most expensive carrier so far to support Apple’s new feature that lets one phone number be shared across two iPhones. That price is double what T-Mobile charges for the same capability, and it adds a new wrinkle to a feature that was supposed to make juggling two iPhones simpler, not more confusing.
What iPhone Handoff Actually Does
iPhone Handoff is a new iOS 27 feature that Apple detailed in more depth during its “Surprise and Shine” event, after first previewing it at WWDC. It lets a customer share one phone number across two compatible iPhones and switch which device is “active” whenever they want, while still keeping access to the carrier’s network. Apple framed it as useful for people who carry a pocketable device like the iPhone Duo day to day but want their main number on an iPhone 18 Pro for work, without carrying two separate lines.
A Patchwork of Prices Is Forming
Apple said the feature would launch first with T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, with Verizon and EE expected to add support before the end of the year. T-Mobile moved first and set its price at $5 a month. Deutsche Telekom folded the feature into its existing MultiSIM service, which costs €6.95 a month unless a customer’s plan already includes it. Verizon’s $10 monthly charge is now the highest confirmed price, and it applies to any compatible iPhone running iOS 27.
That gap matters because iPhone Handoff is the same software feature regardless of carrier. The price difference comes down entirely to how each carrier decides to monetize it, not to any technical distinction in what customers get.
AT&T Is Sitting This One Out
AT&T has not committed to supporting iPhone Handoff at all. When asked about it, the carrier pointed to its existing eSIM activation and transfer tools as its preferred way of handling multi-device setups, rather than adopting Apple’s new system. That leaves AT&T customers without an official path to this specific feature for now, though eSIM transfers remain an alternative for moving a number between devices manually.
Only one iPhone can hold the active number at a time, and Verizon says its support is “coming soon.” In the U.K., EE will offer iPhone Handoff free on its Full Works Plus plan and for £5 a month on other plans.
Who Should Actually Pay For This
For most iPhone owners, $10 a month is not a casual add-on. It makes the most sense for people who genuinely carry two Apple devices as daily phones, such as someone who wants a pocketable iPhone Duo alongside a Pro-class phone, and who needs the same number reachable on both without swapping SIMs or dealing with call forwarding. For anyone who only occasionally uses a second iPhone, the fee is likely to outweigh the convenience, especially on Verizon where it costs twice as much as the T-Mobile version of the identical feature.
The Bottom Line
iPhone Handoff is a genuinely useful idea for a small slice of iPhone owners who live across two devices, but the rollout shows it will not be priced the same way everywhere. T-Mobile customers get it for $5, Deutsche Telekom folds it into an existing service, and Verizon customers will pay $10 a month, with AT&T offering no support at all. Before enabling it, check what your specific carrier charges, since the feature itself doesn’t change from one network to the next.
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