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DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Keep Mac using phone number for Messages when my phone doesn't

I live in the US and use Messages on my iPhone and on my Mac, using my US phone number. I am now traveling abroad and got a foreign (New Zealand) SIM card and phone number for the phone, and am using Messages on the phone with that new number.

I would like the Mac to keep using my American phone number, so that I can see what SMSs are sent to that number. But once I had a different phone number on the iPhone, my American phone number was dropped from Messages on my Mac.

Is there a way that I can keep using my American phone number for Messages on my Mac, if my iPhone is using a different number????

Thanks,

Dan

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 26, 2022 3:39 AM

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,662 points

Posted on Oct 26, 2022 5:06 AM

Messages on the Mac cannot send or receive SMS messages, only iMessages.

When you enable text message forwarding, it uses the iPhone to send/receive SMS.

You can only use the number your phone is using.

Most newer iPhones can create a digital SIM, but I don’t know if that would allow you to use both. If it is possible, you would be paying international data rates when you used the US SIM.

Check with your US carrier to see if you can access SMS messages on their web portal.

You should still be able to receive iMessage texts from Apple device users.

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Keep Mac using phone number for Messages when my phone doesn't

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