One of the stranger features to have surfaced on the existing beta versions of iOS 27 is something called iPhone Handoff. Despite the image that the name conjures, it’s not a fancy new name for the process of transferring data from an older Apple smartphone to a newer one. Instead, it allows your phone number to jump between two iPhones, depending on which one you’re actively using at any given time.
MacRumors reports that one of its forumers shared a video of the feature in action, although it involves two simulated iPhones running in Xcode 27’s Device Hub. Setting it up starts from the Cellular menu within, well, the iPhones’ Settings. The process looks to require that you run your phone number via eSIM rather than the conventional physical one. Also needed is telco support, with the forumer mentioning two specifically for now. One is T-Mobile in the US and the other is Germany’s Telekom Deutschland.
Either way, you start the process from the secondary phone, which will then get a companion eSIM to support the feature. Once the setup is complete, your phone number will move between the two depending on which iPhone is unlocked, which will also determine which device gets its location shared when you do that. There will even be a notification when you unlock one device and the handoff takes place. While not mentioned by the forumer, the report itself notes that cellular settings are managed on the primary phone.
On one hand, this sounds a bit like WhatsApp’s linked devices feature, but for your phone number. Which raises questions about the way the two will interact, since WhatsApp ties the account primarily to the device with the phone number, and designates everything else as linked devices. At any rate, iOS 27 is expected to see a general release later this month, around or after the iPhone 18 family becomes available.
(Source: MacRumors [1], [2])
