Rumor: iPhone 5 prototypes show embedded NFC
26 June, 2012
category: NFC
Code retrieved from two Apple iPhone 5 prototypes suggest that the next iPhone will comes with embedded NFC, according to 9to5Mac.
The addition of NFC to the iPhone would likely complement Apple’s recently revealed Passbook mobile wallet app, finally pitting Apple against Google, Isis and now Microsoft for control of the mobile payments market. NFC integration could also allow iPhone users to quickly share content with other iOS devices, similar to Android’s Beam app.
“Opinion is that Apple is going to incorporate NFC into Passbook,” Jim Peters, CTO of SITA, told 9to5Mac. “There aren’t any transactions in it yet, but I think that’s how Apple is going to sneak up on the industry. They are going to get people used to using it and then all of a sudden they will allow credit cards to be used in there, on the next iPhone, which will include NFC.”
Peters added that NFC is an inevitability that all mobile users, not just iPhone owners, need to prepare for.
“There is a lot of debate that NFC will never take off because of all the arguments, but you need to get ready, this is coming,” he said. “This is going to happen. By the end of the year the majority of smart phones that you go and buy will have NFC on them. If in October the next iPhone comes out and it has NFC on it, it’s game over.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the the iPhone 5, let alone previous models, has been the subject of NFC rumors. However, as more NFC phones hit the market, including iPhone rival Samsung Galaxy S III, the addition of NFC to the iPhone seems ever more likely.
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