iPhone 5 Will Not Feature NFC
The iPhone 5 will not come equipped with an NFC (near-field-communications) chip, according to a new report.
AnandTech has ruled out the possibility of Apple bringing this feature to the new iPhone due to some of the photos leaked showing the backing of the device.
"Given the primarily metal backside of the new iPhone, it's highly unlikely that NFC is in the cards for this generation. In fact, given the very little space at top and bottom dedicated to those glass RF windows, you can almost entirely rule it out," wrote AnandTech.
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Jim Dalrymple, another Apple insider, also weighed in on the matter saying that AnandTech's assumption was correct. NFC will most likely not appear in the new iPhone.
These reports come as somewhat of a surprise as recent programs released by Apple have pointed to the company installing NFC chips in their next-generation devices.
Apple just announced its new Passbook digital wallet for iOS 6 that many believed to be a no-brainer for NFC capabilities. This technology would also allow for contactless payments that could be closely incorporated into the Passbook functionality.
A photo leak also pointed to NFC for the iPhone 5. The pictures showed an assembled front panel that had an unknown square feature that Japanese blog Macotakara said was part of the NFC system for the device. However, it seems that this was not a good enough confirmation for AnandTech.
Either way, it does not make sense for Apple to not have NFC since many of its competitors have already employed it for some of their top smartphones. Apple waited an extra year to include LTE in its devices. Could it be doing the same for NFC? The Cupertino-based company normally likes to wait until technology is perfected and ready for optimum use before bringing to their devices.
