Buying the latest iPhone is already expensive, but Verizon thinks your monthly bill could use a little more excitement. The carrier has confirmed that customers will have to pay an extra $10 every month to activate a new connectivity feature that lets the latest iPhone hardware share a cellular connection across devices.
The $10 gets you network sharing
The new feature lets two compatible devices stay connected to the same cellular plan and share one phone number. Users can move between their main iPhone and the new foldable hardware without dropping a call or losing their internet connection. The network handles the handoff in the background, so they aren’t constantly thinking about which device is currently connected.
But Verizon is approaching the feature much like cellular connectivity for a smartwatch. Turn it on, and another $10 automatically lands on your monthly bill.
The charge was reportedly tucked into the fine print around the hardware’s launch. So anyone excited about testing one of the phone’s headline tricks may not have realized there was a subscription attached.
Your carrier has to play along
The feature is not something the phone can simply enable by itself. Wireless carriers have to support the technology on their networks, which means buying compatible hardware doesn’t automatically guarantee that the feature will work.
Verizon supports it, while other providers may have to wait before they can offer the capability to their customers. Over in Europe, EE has also confirmed support for the feature.
Is a $10 subscription worth it?
If you are buying expensive new hardware specifically because you want to use its clever connectivity features, being asked to pay another $120 a year just to keep that feature active isn’t exactly a great surprise.
For someone who regularly switches between devices, the seamless handoff could be genuinely useful. For everyone else, it may be easier to leave the feature switched off and keep the extra $10 in their pocket. Either way, Verizon has turned what sounds like a neat piece of phone technology into another monthly subscription.
Sources: The Mac Observer, Engadget