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All iPads The iPad Air 2 should have NFC

N

Noble Actual

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 10, 2014
851
501
I saw on the front page that Apple decided not to add NFC antennas in the iPad Air 2. If they had, the iPad Air 2 could have been possibly used to process Apple Pay payments.

I hope Apple isn't trying to save this for the iPad Air 3.

While Apple Pay seems great right now, it still has a long way to go. While many major stores have/will support or won't support Apple Pay, most local stores/business I realized use some form of iPad payment system (Square, PayPal, etc.)

I think if Apple came out and allowed the iPad Air 2 to be able to receive Apple Pay, it would have been a game changer.

iPads are affordable than a new NFC supported payment terminal and they wouldn't need to buy any additional accessory.

Seems like a missed opportunity.
 
It just isn't practical to be honest. You're going to lug around an iPad to make NFC payments? It's almost like taking the iPad out and about to take photographs, it just isn't the best option. The phones work in this scenario because you have it with you a lot more than carrying around an iPad.
 
famoussasjohn said:
It just isn't practical to be honest. You're going to lug around an iPad to make NFC payments? It's almost like taking the iPad out and about to take photographs, it just isn't the best option. The phones work in this scenario because you have it with you a lot more than carrying around an iPad.
Click to expand...

Lol, so many people are misinterpreting the OP and not reading the entire post.
 
dannyyankou said:
Lol, so many people are misinterpreting the OP and not reading the entire post.
Click to expand...

That's not even how NFC works with the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, though maybe in the future. For now, it will only process payments to purchase things, and cannot be used to take payments.
 
famoussasjohn said:
That's not even how NFC works with the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, though maybe in the future. For now, it will only process payments to purchase things, and cannot be used to take payments.
Click to expand...

Right, that's what the OP is saying. That they should give the iPad NFC and the ability to take payments. This would be great for small businesses.
 
Nice to see like half the MR population has the reading capabilities of a 2nd grader and the attention span of a chipmunk.

Yes, thank you to the people that READ and got it.

To the people that don't understand, I'm not complaining about how I can't pay using an iPad or how Apple is ripping me off because they didn't include NFC.

I'm just saying Apple Pay could have been much bigger if Apple allowed the new iPad Air 2 to be able to process Apple Pay transactions.

It would really hurt Square and PayPal. It might be a surprise to some, but for those that live in a city (SF, SJ, NY, etc.) you would be surprised to see that local business are more high tech than major stores like Walmart and Best Buy. Almost all of them use iPads or tablets but equipped with Square, PayPal, etc.
 
If Apple wants to promote the payment system then they need to make it available and consistent across all devices. Ease of use and reliability is key so it needs to be simple so that means you shouldn't need more than the one device you have with you for it to work. If it's dependent on other devices and you happen to forget one then it's useless and defeats the purpose of replacing the credit/debit/ID.
 
The iPad Air 2 should have NFC

According to the ifixit teardown off the mini 3 it has an nfc chip. Is that accurate?

Ah forget it. I guess a portion off the nfc system is required for Apple pay
 
dannyyankou said:
Did you read the OP's argument? He was saying that small businesses could use the iPad as an NFC terminal. Completely different than bringing the iPad to a register and looking like an idiot.
Click to expand...

They said the same thing about people taking pictures with their iPads. Yet here we are with improved cameras. Funny how that works.
 
andyw715 said:
According to the ifixit teardown off the mini 3 it has an nfc chip. Is that accurate?
Click to expand...

From what I quick read, its the NFC chip that contains the Secure Element. Its needed to support Apple Pay from apps like Target. You can you use Apple Pay to buy something from the Target app on iPad.

What it doesn't contain is the NFC antennas which the iPhone 6 has. This is what allows you to use Apple Pay in stores.

The MR article suggested that if Apple had NFC antennas in the iPad Air it could possibly be used in the future to allow small/local business to use iPads to process Apple Pay transactions instead of buying brand-new NFC capable terminals. It would benefit local businesses a lot.
 
Noble Actual said:
I saw on the front page that Apple decided not to add NFC antennas in the iPad Air 2. If they had, the iPad Air 2 could have been possibly used to process Apple Pay payments.

I hope Apple isn't trying to save this for the iPad Air 3.

While Apple Pay seems great right now, it still has a long way to go. While many major stores have/will support or won't support Apple Pay, most local stores/business I realized use some form of iPad payment system (Square, PayPal, etc.)

I think if Apple came out and allowed the iPad Air 2 to be able to receive Apple Pay, it would have been a game changer.

iPads are affordable than a new NFC supported payment terminal and they wouldn't need to buy any additional accessory.

Seems like a missed opportunity.
Click to expand...

So why didn't they put a credit card swiper on it too? The reality is that using an iPad to accept payments is a niche application, better dealt with by an addon like the Square dongle. Apple wasn't going to start offering payment processing, so you'd still need to have an entity like Square in there somewhere.
 
DoofenshmirtzEI said:
So why didn't they put a credit card swiper on it too? The reality is that using an iPad to accept payments is a niche application, better dealt with by an addon like the Square dongle. Apple wasn't going to start offering payment processing, so you'd still need to have an entity like Square in there somewhere.
Click to expand...

I thought the whole point of Apple Pay was to not need a credit card/credit card swiper.

My point is that if Apple did add support for the iPads to offer payment processing, Apple Pay would have been a lot bigger.

Apple of course didn't for whatever reason. Most likely since processing is pretty different from paying and they're new to mobile payments.

I'm not saying Apple did a bad job with Apple Pay, I'm just saying they could have done a better job if the new iPads could process payments.
 
Noble Actual said:
I thought the whole point of Apple Pay was to not need a credit card/credit card swiper.

My point is that if Apple did add support for the iPads to offer payment processing, Apple Pay would have been a lot bigger.

Apple of course didn't for whatever reason. Most likely since processing is pretty different from paying and they're new to mobile payments.

I'm not saying Apple did a bad job with Apple Pay, I'm just saying they could have done a better job if the new iPads could process payments.
Click to expand...

Yes, but most people are (and have been for the past several years when iPads have been used to take payments) still not able to use NFC payments, they use swiped credit cards. So why haven't people been agitating for Apple to put a credit card swiper on the iPad since most people won't be using NFC to make payments?

This is a niche application, far less than 1% of iPads are used to take credit cards. As any security person knows, once you put a path in to any device, you open it up to possible intrusions via that path. It only makes sense to do that with devices where the benefits outweigh the potential risks. Again, it is wiser to use an external addon like a Square dongle for those few iPads that will be used to take NFC payments.
 
Im sure it will happen as NFC technology begins to take hold. It is probably part pf their long term plan.

First, we need people to begin making payments on a regular basis on a massive scale. NFC has to become the norm and that will require a large installed user base. With all the moves around NFC being made and the buzz about Apple Pay, there will be enough 6's , 6 plus' and iphone 7s next year that they may be able to introduce it and have it be a real selling feature.

I could see the affect of adding NFC being added now to ipad not being taken seriously by the public.

Im sure it will happen as Apple will be searching for areas of opportunity to boost sales of iPad.
 
Noble Actual said:
I saw on the front page that Apple decided not to add NFC antennas in the iPad Air 2. If they had, the iPad Air 2 could have been possibly used to process Apple Pay payments.

I hope Apple isn't trying to save this for the iPad Air 3.

While Apple Pay seems great right now, it still has a long way to go. While many major stores have/will support or won't support Apple Pay, most local stores/business I realized use some form of iPad payment system (Square, PayPal, etc.)

I think if Apple came out and allowed the iPad Air 2 to be able to receive Apple Pay, it would have been a game changer.

iPads are affordable than a new NFC supported payment terminal and they wouldn't need to buy any additional accessory.

Seems like a missed opportunity.
Click to expand...

Two things to consider:

1. Apple Pay requires an Internet connection. This is not convenient as most people do not buy cellular iPads as it brings with it another data plan to pay for.

2. Practicality. Who goes shopping or to the store with an iPad?
 
Square, PayPal, etc will make the dongles needed to take NFC payments. I don't think it'll make it into the iPads themselves because they don't want to open it to developers. It's not a space that average developers should be getting into and there's a lot of privacy concerns.
 
Armen said:
Two things to consider:

1. Apple Pay requires an Internet connection. This is not convenient as most people do not buy cellular iPads as it brings with it another data plan to pay for.

2. Practicality. Who goes shopping or to the store with an iPad?
Click to expand...

Read it again, you misunderstood.

1. Apple Pay does not require internet connection, it requires NFC and cellular.

2a. I want the iPad to support NFC so I can use Apple Pay in more stores/businesses.

2b. Reason being, many local businesses can't afford NFC terminals but use iPads with Square, PayPal, etc. I want Apple to allow the iPad to be able to transact payments made from Apple Pay.
 
Noble Actual said:
Read it again, you misunderstood.



1. Apple Pay does not require internet connection, it requires NFC and cellular.



2a. I want the iPad to support NFC so I can use Apple Pay in more stores/businesses.



2b. Reason being, many local businesses can't afford NFC terminals but use iPads with Square, PayPal, etc. I want Apple to allow the iPad to be able to transact payments made from Apple Pay.
Click to expand...


From what I read on imore it does require Internet but I follow what you're saying.
 
Noble Actual said:
Read it again, you misunderstood.

1. Apple Pay does not require internet connection, it requires NFC and cellular.

2a. I want the iPad to support NFC so I can use Apple Pay in more stores/businesses.

2b. Reason being, many local businesses can't afford NFC terminals but use iPads with Square, PayPal, etc. I want Apple to allow the iPad to be able to transact payments made from Apple Pay.
Click to expand...

I just googled. a nfc terminal cost is ~300 dollars. how is that expensive?
 
Last night I was having a conversation with my husband concerning our homeowners association and some really stupid things they had done last year.

One comment I made was that I have recently begun to realize that the average person:
1). Has an IQ of about 70 or,
2). Lacks simple critical thinking abilities, or
3). Lacks simple reading comprehension capabilities, or
4). Is simply too lazy to implement 2 or 3 above

After reading this thread I can safely say I was right.

OP, I agree with you. It would have been a good option. Apple should have at least included the antenna. I happen to do business with 3 vendors on a weekly basis who use Square on an iPad. I suspect Apple didn't want to complicate the ApplePay system until wider adoption.
 
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