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iPhone 5 to Support NFC-Based Portable 'Remote' Computing?

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple's interest in Near Field Communication (NFC), the short-range wireless technology that supports such services as "tap and go" credit card payments, has been well-established, but a new report claims that Apple maybe be planning to include the technology in the fifth-generation iPhone to allow Mac users to essentially keep a portable version of their Mac on their iPhone and wirelessly allow any compatible Mac to run as if it was their own Mac.
If users wave a NFC-equipped iPhone at a NFC Mac (they need to be in close proximity to interact), the Mac will load all their applications, settings and data. It will be as though they are sitting at their own machine at home or work. When the user leaves, and the NFC-equipped iPhone is out of range, the host machine returns to its previous state.

"The Mac authenticates with the iPhone, which contains a lot of the information the computer needs, such as bookmarks, passwords and other data," said our source, who asked to remain anonymous. "The system would essentially turn any Apple computer into your own - like you're actually working on your own computer. Same settings, look, bookmarks, preferences. It would all be invisible. Your iPhone would be all you needed to unlock your Mac."
Click to expand...
The source reports that smaller items of information such as passwords, documents, and preference files would be stored directly on the iPhone, but that larger chunks of data such as applications and music and photo libraries would likely have to be stored in the cloud to be included in the service, given the sizes of those items and the relatively slow transfer speeds used in NFC.

According to the source, Apple has been working on this implementation of NFC technology for "some time", but it is of course possible that it may never see a public release.

Article Link: iPhone 5 to Support NFC-Based Portable 'Remote' Computing?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/01/iphone-5-to-support-nfc-based-portable-remote-computing/
This is the future. Also, a great way to see new desktop computers since this would have to have the correct hardware on it as well...I assume
 
Great...another security cockup waiting to happen!

What happens when your iPhone gets stolen?
 
This is the kind of stuff Apple meant at the 'Back to the Mac' event where they previewed Lion.

You can tell that's what the theme and title were hinting at, but they apparently want to keep that kind of stuff secret longer (obviously). It'll all come together eventually.


rmwebs said:
Great...another security cockup waiting to happen!

What happens when your iPhone gets stolen?
Click to expand...

Yeah, this must be why no one owns laptops, right?
 
No Thanks...

"back pocket" iphone carriers beware of where your ass is at all times.

Butt dialing gets a new meaning.
 
Now if Only

Now if only Apple had a giant data center to make all this possible. Oh wait they just built one and are planning on building a second one right next door. :)
 
So... Why have 2 different posters mentioned the data center? What am I missing? That has nothing to do with this.

The article says the info would come from the phone, not from the 'net. If it needed the data center to work, why would the iPhone be part of this story? You wouldn't even need one.
 
see

MacRumors said:



The source reports that smaller items of information such as passwords, documents, and preference files would be stored directly on the iPhone, but that larger chunks of data such as applications and music and photo libraries would likely have to be stored in the cloud to be included in the service, given the sizes of those items and the relatively slow transfer speeds used in NFC.


Article Link: iPhone 5 to Support NFC-Based Portable 'Remote' Computing?
Click to expand...



There!
 
So would this be as close as we could get to over-the-air syncing from Apple? Would make MobileMe pretty useless then. Or mostly useless.
 
Don't Japanese Cell Phones already do this? I've seen people in Japan at the train station sliding there Cell Phones to get in.
 
I've been waiting for this for a long time.

It'd be great if Apple has been working on this and really has it all worked out.

By the way, the data could simply be accessed from your home mac -- it wouldn't necessarily have to hosted someplace else. Think "mac to your mac."

For security & performance, I would actually prefer a mode where all data, including docs and apps, are stored on the iPhone/iPad and a USB connection is used.
 
I don’t care if it uses NFC or WiFi or what, but some form of the long-rumored “home on iPod” functionality would be a neat feature!

(I used to keep a copy of my Mac on my iPod Photo—OS and all—which I could then use to boot other people’s Macs, creating my own homebrew version of this. Very useful when I didn’t want to lug a laptop.)
 
Pachang said:
how would it?
Click to expand...

Small White Car said:
So... Why have 2 different posters mentioned the data center? What am I missing? That has nothing to do with this.

The article says the info would come from the phone, not from the 'net. If it needed the data center to work, why would the iPhone be part of this story? You wouldn't even need one.
Click to expand...

The part about "small files would be stored on the phone, while large files like applications would be stored in the cloud"
 
Small White Car said:
So... Why have 2 different posters mentioned the data center? What am I missing? That has nothing to do with this.

The article says the info would come from the phone, not from the 'net. If it needed the data center to work, why would the iPhone be part of this story? You wouldn't even need one.
Click to expand...

"The source reports that smaller items of information such as passwords, documents, and preference files would be stored directly on the iPhone, but that larger chunks of data such as applications and music and photo libraries would likely have to be stored in the cloud to be included in the service, given the sizes of those items and the relatively slow transfer speeds used in NFC."
 
Don't panic said:
why do you need an iphone for this?
wouldn't be simple key or card be enough?
Click to expand...

You already have a iphone/itouch already so why would apple make you carry something else around when you could just use your existing device and have another reason to purchase that device over a competitors device that cant do this.
 
Tyler.Schmaltz said:
Idk about you but my entire Imac files would not fit on a 32 gig iphone, so apple would need a data center store the rest of your files that would be synced with or accessed via the computer you are using away from home.
Click to expand...

Ah I see. Thanks. That seems dumb though. I mean if the info being stored there is in the range of gigabytes, then won't it take ages to download?
 
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