iPhone Handoff's big catch

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I’ve got an old iPhone 12 mini that I use as a second camera for the awesome Cult of Mac podcast, but I’d love to use it as a second phone.

It’d be great for weekend bike rides, for example, when I just want to stay minimally connected and listen to music, but not much else.

In the past, it was super-easy to swap out your SIM card to switch phones. And although it’s supposedly just as easy with eSIMs, I’ve been too chicken to try it. The last thing I want to do is spend the morning talking to T-Mobile support.

So this new iPhone swap feature coming in iOS 27 sounds great — it allows you to easily switch between iPhones — but there is one big catch.

Also in today’s newsletter:

This may not be such great news for Intel Mac owners, but great for everyone else: Apple silicon apps will soon be a lot less bloated.
Anker’s new line of smart chargers — just shown off at IFA, Europe’s version of CES — sounds really clever and useful. A new wall charger, for example, uses smart charging profiles tuned to your exact device to prolong your battery’s lifespan by 40%.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: Bose is clearing out several limited-edition colors of its much-loved QuietComfort headphones. These aren’t the latest models, but are still great, and select colors are a whopping 45% off. #affiliate.
I really would have loved to go to Woz’s US Festivals. Shame he still doesn’t do them. I guess losing millions of dollars of his own money put a bit of a damper on the idea.
As we note in this hands-on review of a new BenQ monitor, it’s not easy choosing a Mac display, unless you’re willing to drop a small fortune on Apple’s pricey screens. But BenQ’s new offering has a lot to offer.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

iOS 27’s iPhone Handoff lets two phones share one number

iOS 27’s new iPhone Handoff feature lets you share one phone number across two iPhones — here’s how the setup works.

Apple Maps caves to White House, changes Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’

Apple Maps now calls Lake Ontario “Lake America” for U.S. users, following President Trump’s controversial name change.

Apple just told developers it’s OK to finally let Intel Macs go

Mac App Store developers can now ship Apple silicon-only apps, dropping support for Intel Macs.

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Believe it or not, M6 Mac mini deals already cut the price of Apple's latest

Grab Apple's small yet powerful desktop computer with this Mac mini deal. It's so new it's not even in stores yet, but you can save on it.

Anker’s new chargers fight heat with brains and fans

Anker’s new IFA 2026 charging lineup uses active cooling, displays and device-specific charging profiles to power iPhones and MacBooks more intelligently.

Anker takes a cue from Apple: Standalone stores, simplified branding

With new retail stores in the offing, Anker Innovations combines its various product lines under one branding banner: Anker.

^{A message from}^{the Cult of Mac Deals team}

Stash your most critical files with 500GB of encrypted cloud storage, just $40 for life

Secure lifetime access to 500GB of Vault encrypted cloud storage (browser-based AES-GCM-256 encryption and zero-knowledge privacy).

Today in Apple history: Woz stages an epic concert

On September 3, 1982, Woz's first US Festival, an $8 million music and technology event, kicked off in California.

This 32-inch BenQ display is a bigger, smoother Studio Display alternative [Review]

The BenQ MA320UG combines a spacious 32-inch 4K panel, a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and extensive Thunderbolt connectivity to deliver a compelling Studio Display alternative.

Cult of Mac’s buyback program

We pay top dollar for used Apple gear

Sell your old iPhone, iPad, MacBook and more through Cult of Mac. Free shipping, fast payment!

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Tweets of the day

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Wallpaper of the day

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One more thing ...

❝

Buckle up. Got something totally new for you now. What is this? It's a totally new application. It's called Safari, and it is a turbo browser for Mac OS X. We have done our own browser, and it's hot.

— Steve Jobs, 2003.

Today’s poll

What do you think of Apple's decision to rename Lake Ontario in Maps?

Results from yesterday’s poll

Best reader comments

Subscribe to The Weekender — Get the week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.