You May Not Be Able To Use This New iOS 27 Feature If You're An AT&T Customer

After Apple released the anticipated IOS 27 to consumers' devices, iPhone users were given handy new features and quality of life changes, like an enhanced liquid glass display and improved child safety measures. Some appreciated the new update for allowing AI to finally take over the iPhone via upgraded Apple Intelligence capabilities and Siri AI. Certain iPhone users, though, will be unable to experience iOS 27 to its fullest extent due to carrier-dependent restrictions, and that carrier is AT&T.

One such feature new to iOS 27 that AT&T customers may not get is called iPhone Handoff, which allows users to use the same phone number across two iPhones. T-Mobile supports the feature — albeit for a $5 monthly charge — and Verizon customers should have it by the end of 2026. However, it seems AT&T lacks any urgency to extend such a function to its customers. "While we see that there could be potential in capabilities like iPhone Handoff, our focus remains on delivering innovations that make life simpler and keep customers connected with confidence," a company spokesperson told CNET.

iPhone Handoff was one of many big changes that came to iOS 27. The feature lets you simultaneously access the same phone number with two devices. A user's messages, voicemail, calls, and Find My location instantly transfer to the iPhone they're using at a specific moment after unlocking it. The function is especially useful for Apple users who have phones both for business and pleasure. "iPhone Handoff lets you use one phone number between two devices, so you can switch between them whenever you want," Apple support wrote. "It makes it easy to move back and forth between devices optimized for the moment — like weekday business or weekend adventures."

Handoff gives users the ability to use multiple phones on a situational basis without having to provide or memorize multiple phone numbers. Some users observed it also allows iPhone users to keep their old devices as backup phones. "It's an interesting idea," one Reddit user wrote. "I'd love to have a real cheap older iPhone for going to the lake, camping, situations where I might possibly lose or break a phone." Perhaps, depending on its popularity, AT&T will follow suit with its competition and give customers Handoff access, but, for now, the feature won't be available to those users.