Apple Blogger John Gruber Hints at NFC For iPhone 6 [Update: iWatch Too]

[Plutonius]

The iWatch is driving the NFC in the iPhone 6. I expect to see NFC in all Apple mobile products.

Note: NFC technology is not just for transactions (i.e. buying things). It can also be used for data transfer between devices (bio metric data from the iWatch, etc).

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

I'm not sure if I can handle a 5.5" phone, but I'll be able to justify it a lot more if I don't have to carry around keys and a wallet. I guess I still occasionally need my Drivers License, and things like my medical card, but we're getting closer anyway...

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I don't follow him closely enough to know why a lot of people seem to hate him. What about the 9-to-5 mac guy? Do people hate everyone not macrumors, or just him specifically?

I'm starting to really love the idea of the 5.5 in phone. I want as much screen as possible that I can still fit in my pocket.

As far as Gruber goes I think people are just looking for something to be mad about. Like they always are. He's very well connected and his posts on his blog are informative and well done. They don't respect him because he's not writing for a major website when in fact he probably has just as good or better insight than they do. A lot of the time I like reading his and Dalrymple's take on tech news more than the big news sites. I think Apple gives them information and early access to their products for a reason. *Shrugs*

 

[Karma*Police]

Passbook was an attempt to easily adapt to existing technology (optical scanners) since all it requires is an image on a screen. It's current implementation was never meant to be long term (plus, its use has really been rathe limited so far).

Passbook was a great idea that was poorly executed, IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped the app at some point.

 

[Patriot24]

I don't follow him closely enough to know why a lot of people seem to hate him. What about the 9-to-5 mac guy? Do people hate everyone not macrumors, or just him specifically?

A lot of people are jaded due to the nature of Apple rumors in general. There are a lot of "sources" out there that often report unsubstantiated (see: fabricated) reports for the sake of page views and ad revenue.

However, there are a decent number of journalists that rarely report garbage and are quick to point out the difference between their opinion and something that they heard from a source they trust.

John Gruber in particular has a signal phrase that he uses when he's reporting something that a source within Apple has told him - "A little birdy told me <insert information here>". If you don't see that in the post, then there's a good chance that he's stating an opinion or joking.

The problem is that the media tends to ignore these cues and report everything as if it is confirmed. In doing so, they do a disservice to their readers and to people like John.

All that said, today's post by John is him clearly mixing it up a bit and baiting news outlets based on the earlier reports issued on what was clearly a joke. He has made no secret of the fact that he is frustrated by the rumor mill culture of reporting first and verifying later. This is essentially him playing digital chicken with them.

Jim Dalrymple, Mark Gurman, and the Walt Mossberg clan over at re/code (formerly of WSJ) are all extremely reliable sources.

 

[jfmartin67]

You must be kidding, right?

John Gruber has no clue at all... just like it didn't have a clue about the iWatch coming out around the time the Motorola 360 is coming out... Come on guys!

 

[japanime]

Many of the replies in past thread were overly focused on how he shouldn't be called a journalist, so I substituted a different descriptor with the hopes of keeping the discussion oriented on NFC instead of what we call John Gruber.

Even better would be to call him a "pundit." To me, that sits right between "blogger" and "journalist."

 

[Smigit]

I think NFC makes a lot of sense. Mobile payments of course benefit and Apple has slowly made strides in that direction, but I think the bigger winner could be home kit. There's likely some home kit applications where you want the communication range to be much shorter than wi-fi and Bluetooth will offer such as any 'smart' locks and the like. Of course there's various ways to implement a lock system for the front door, but NFC and its limited range is a pretty suitable technology.

 

[Karma*Police]

The tech itself definitely isn't revolutionary. However, the way it's implemented and the insanely fast rate at which it will be adopted might be.

I agree. NFC by itself is nothing special. Execution is what counts. Just ask Google.

If you look at the original iPhone and dissected each of the parts separately, they wouldn't have looked all that impressive. It's only after Apple connected all the dots (hardware and software) that one could recognize the iPhone as the revolutionary device it is known for today.

We'll soon see if Apple's implementation will revolutionize how we pay for things or if it'll be a dud like Google Wallet.

 

[SirLance99]

I have said all along Apple will implement it when they have a use im sure all this has taken time. Look at google wallet no one uses that but I bet this will be used farrrr more cause everything was set up properly ahead of time.

Fingerprint reader? Check
Secure enclave? Check
Credit card companies involved? Check
Retailers involved? Check
iPhone with NFC? Check.
Widely accepted mobile payments? CHECK

Good, then I'll finally be able to use NFC on all my other phones.

 

[slu]

Man, can Gruber get anymore full of himself? He could be right 100% of the time and it would still piss me off because of his arrogance.

As for NFC, I say great. As long as they use standards. If it gets more retailers accepting mobile payments it will be great. I love using it on my Nexus 4, but only a few places around me accept it.

 

[kdarling]

Good, then I'll finally be able to use NFC on all my other phones.

As for NFC, I say great. As long as they use standards. If it gets more retailers accepting mobile payments it will be great. I love using it on my Nexus 4, but only a few places around me accept it.

NFC payments are coming to merchants no matter what, which is why Apple has to support them.

However, the extra Apple publicity will no doubt help adoption by users, and make merchants more aware of what they have.

 

[Patriot24]

As for NFC, I say great. As long as they use standards.

Apple? Standards? Are you new here?

On a serious note, I'm sure that they'll do what they need to do to get it to work and to be widely adopted, but do so in a way that leave the least amount of room possible for competitors to edge their way in.

Theoretically, the proliferation of NFC payment options can only help Google Wallet, but maybe there will be contractual terms that bind the most popular credit card companies to Apple's solutions?

 

[FrozenDarkness]

I'm surprised that people still haven't realized that hardware is not as important as software. NFC is a dud until someone figures out how to make it useful. If Apple figures it out, than they win.

Just like retina, retina is NOT resolution, it's software DPI scaling support and resolution. you have one without the other? it's practically not the same thing!

 

[Swift]

When did he lose the "journalist" title.

Nobody wants to be called by the dirty name, "journalist."

 

[proline]

Man, can Gruber get anymore full of himself? He could be right 100% of the time and it would still piss me off because of his arrogance.

Fools generally view the wise as arrogant. It helps them feel better about themselves. What hurts fools is usually the truth.

As for NFC, I say great. As long as they use standards. If it gets more retailers accepting mobile payments it will be great. I love using it on my Nexus 4, but only a few places around me accept it.

Apple will not be bound to your simple idea of 'standards'. They will look at ALL current and potential approaches to NFC and implement the one that is best for them and their customers. They will base their solution on many factors, but whether or not you or anyone else thinks it is 'standard' will not be one of them. They may do something based on interoperable 3rd party standards, like Wifi, or, if there is no standard that works well, they will make their own (lightning). Seeing as NFC to date is a total failure, with a market share of less than 0.1% of all transactions despite being around for many, many years, I'd say Apple will likely be doing things very differently...

 

[Swift]

NFC payments are coming to merchants no matter what, which is why Apple has to support them.

However, the extra Apple publicity will no doubt help adoption by users, and make merchants more aware of what they have.

Google puts out NFC for how many years so far? Who adopts it? Not many retailers. Once all those iPhones are walking around with it, the demand will triple (iPhone users buy a lot more stuff).

 

[agsystems]

I have said all along Apple will implement it when they have a use im sure all this has taken time. Look at google wallet no one uses that but I bet this will be used farrrr more cause everything was set up properly ahead of time.

Fingerprint reader? Check
Secure enclave? Check
Credit card companies involved? Check
Retailers involved? Check
iPhone with NFC? Check.
Widely accepted mobile payments? CHECK

And you my friend have the applaud of the day - this is how you create a platform - I have a 5s and I have no hesitation of paying physical goods with Touch ID - bring it on.....

 

[proline]

I'm surprised that people still haven't realized that hardware is not as important as software. NFC is a dud until someone figures out how to make it useful. If Apple figures it out, than they win.

Just like retina, retina is NOT resolution, it's software DPI scaling support and resolution. you have one without the other? it's practically not the same thing!

I think most people have figured this out, it's just that MR forums have become a locus for obtuse individuals who can't learn this kind of thing because on superior forums such as Ars Technica their ignorance would simply be down-voted until it is taken down. I'm sure your comment will prove my point by attracting a bunch of people who say NFC works well today on existing phones. Of course it doesn't or people would actually use it, but logic doesn't work for these guys. They will just blame lack of adoption by retailers. Of course retailers would adopt it if customers actually wanted it, just like they adopt visa even though it has huge fees. Being able to touch your card to the reader instead of inserting it is simply a negligible benefit as Schiller has said. Apple will provide real benefits.

 

[lk400]

1 step closer to not needing keys or a wallet! iPhone can unlock my door to my car and house. It's a beautiful world, and pocket real estate is at a premium!

Hope your battery doesn't run out! Maybe you'll need to budget in a charger in your pocket space.

 

[CausticSoda]

this. times a million.

i hate stuff in my pockets. A LOT. if i can unlock my house/car and start my car, AND pay for stuff ALL with my PHONE? Life is Good..

Yes, agreed, until the battery runs out.

I can see it now... The iPhone 8... "Thinner than your credit card, more flexible and whole lot more useful. Can't innovate any more, blah blah blah". They could make an iPhone case a bit like a wallet that charges the thing by induction when you slide it in, and that could have the connectivity port(s) etc. Meanwhile, you could slide it out and use it as thinner device than in Sir Jonny's wildest dreams.

 

[SirLance99]

Google puts out NFC for how many years so far? Who adopts it? Not many retailers. Once all those iPhones are walking around with it, the demand will triple (iPhone users buy a lot more stuff).

False, the carriers hampered Google Wallet for their own payment system ISIS.

 

[Cougarcat]

Because Gruber gets too political in my opinion.
If you are talking about Mark Gurman from 9 to 5, now he is cool!

Gurman was cool until he posted that ridiculous article stating that Health's UI changed because of his leaks. Sorry, Mark, but you're not that important. His sources are golden, though.

I lost a lot of respect for Gruber after he switched podcast networks rather abruptly and took a big dump on his listeners in the process. He made a half-assed apology way too late. I still follow his blog, though, because he's by far the best Apple writer around.

 

[SirLance99]

Hope your battery doesn't run out! Maybe you'll need to budget in a charger in your pocket space.

Can't remember the last time I ran out of battery. Of course I always have a charger around somewhere.

 

[Sonmi451]

Hope your battery doesn't run out! Maybe you'll need to budget in a charger in your pocket space.

Nope my battery never dies. Never needed a charger. If I notice my phone getting low I'll just turn it off.

 

[jlake02]

Had a thought...

"iPay: 1% cash back for all your purchases, in iTunes credits!"

1% "cash back" money to spend on iTunes would probably motivate the younger generation to flip out their phones to pay rather than their debit cards.