New Photos Indicate Previously-Thought NFC Chip in iPhone 5 is Earpiece Speaker

[lilo777]

So no NFC...

but at least it still has a speaker

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Because the examples you listed were features you use every single day. NFC is not in that same category.

Why not? Those who use NFC tags to change phone mode (BT, WiFi, mute etc.) in the car and/or the night stand surely use NFC every day.

 

[CFreymarc]

They are disguising their finger identity with those long nails. After the pictures are taken, they will clip the nails and no one will ever know.

There is actually forensic specialty dealing with finger and toe nails. Length is not much of a telling factor. The unique arrangement of the ridges along an unpaired nail is almost as unique as a fingerprint.

 

[3282868]

Or do you think it's more likely that the Point of Sale terminals that most merchants have need to be replaced to accept the form of payment. And most merchants and banks don't want to invest in it yet.

It takes quite a stretch to think that adoption of NFC in the US is lagging because of Apple.

MasterCard is already on it:

Ed McLaughlin, who heads emerging payments at MasterCard, had an exchange with Fast Company that went as follows:

…when asked to give an estimate for when smartphone payments would become commonplace (in other words, would 2012 be the year of NFC or contactless tech?), McLaughlin demurred–and may have dropped a hint about Apple’s future in the industry.

“The timeline is always as rapid as it makes sense for consumers,” he says. “That’s a combination of having a critical mass of the merchants, which is what you’re seeing right now, and getting devices into the hands of consumers. I don’t know of a handset manufacturer that isn’t in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready.”

So that would include Apple then?

“Um, there are…like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there,” McLaughlin says. “Now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”

Apple, of course, has the magical ability to transform whole industries. No one paid for music digitally before Apple unveiled iTunes; virtually no one listened to MP3 players, or carried smartphones, or played with tablets before Apple entered the markets. (And we have good reason to believe they are angling into wireless payment territory.) I asked whether the contactless payments industry needs Apple to hit critical mass.

“Well, anytime someone with a major base moves forward, it advances what you’re doing. So of course,” McLaughlin says.

Source:
Mastercard/Paypass to be NFC partner with Apple on iPhone 5?

Plenty of sources quote Visa and MC as pushing the equipment out to major brands/chains/stores, with the credit companies fronting much of the cost. Even vending machines will be equipped with new NFC systems. The talks have stalled due to Apple's desire in grabbing a piece of the pie, just as it does with everything else it "creates".

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However, Apple would create a lucrative market if the iPhone 5 created 10 million NFC users, almost overnight.

Exactly

 

[NedBookPro]

who keeps their fingernails that long?

Ummm.... women?

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Good grief. People, it is entirely possible that a woman might actually be involved here.

And for the record, I'm a girl, my fingernails are about that long, I never wear nail polish, and one of my nails broke this morning, so while it is filed nicely, it is shorter than the others.

Sheesh.

Finally! Someone injects some common sense!

.

 

[NightFlight]

I am absolutely shocked that some people have automatically declared NFC a useless technology because you haven't SEEN it being used, and you'd never use it yourself merely because you don't even understand what it is capable of.

1. Travel outside of your country, particularly to Asia and some countries in Europe where it is used for everything from vending machines to public transportation.

2. Just because you think it is useless doesn't mean it is. How can you not be comfortable using it to pay for something?

3. I've seen it used myself in my area, where it is available at grocery stores, clothing retailers, and gas stations. I've seen people who I wouldn't label as a techie use it as well.


I love Apple but some of you apologists/loyalists are getting ridiculous. There was once a time when Apple had ALL of the cutting edge features, and their phones were HANDS DOWN the best for both their features, performance and for the software. Unfortunately, they've fallen behind on nearly all counts.

If the iPhone 5 doesn't impress me, my current 4S will sadly be my last iPhone.

 

[D.T.]

who keeps their fingernails that long?

 

[NedBookPro]

(Not being a smartass) Would you or someone please list off the things other phones have right now that would make the next iPhone look like it is behind in technology. Just based on the leaks of course. Thanks

- Small screen (I don't count an extra line of icons as "bigger") How about longer *AND* wider apple? (here come all the people who only want to use their thumb)
- More or less the same look for 3 generations of phone. (here come all the laptop comparisons)
- No NFC. This is arguably the next breaking technology.

I sorta can't wait for this thing to be announced so i know whether to pan it or not. If it's still not worth upgrading, I'll look around for (what would be now) a cheap 4S - mainly for the camera. Because the 4 camera certainly sux.

.

 

[miamialley]

No NFC = No purchase.

Hello Google Nexus 2.

So what will you do with NFC anyway? When will you use it?

 

[NedBookPro]

I love the justification on this forum... NFC isn't a super huge deal alone, of course not, but it does go to demonstrate the lack of mobile evolution that Apple has decided to follow.

Sooner or later Apple is going to face a shift in ownership as their phones continue to fall behind the options provided by others.

Consumers are generally clueless when it comes to the latest and greatest, but they do follow trends, it's important they keep up with their neighbors, it's important they appear to be knowledgeable.

If a few jump ship for extended features, others will follow, because thats what we do.

But this forum lol...

If it had NFC "THIS IS SO GREAT!!! I CANT WAIT TO BUY MY COFFEE WITH MY IPHONE!!!"

If it doesnt have NFC "Pfft, NFC what? Who cares? Nobody uses it anyways, passing fad *rolleyes* *flip wrists*"

It's like if the iPhone 6 causes cancer people here will say "Pfft, living an average life span is so totally stereotypical, passing fad, nothing more."



Come on Apple, INNOVATE!!!

+1000000

Totally true.

.

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newsflash -- apple doesnt design phones for phone-geeks that buy annually. instead they make the best phone they can every year, just like an auto maker or laptop maker, and whoever is eligible or wants to buy it will decide to do so. with 7 or 8 billion people on the planet, it works out -- because not everyone is on the same schedule as you.

crazy, i know.

Maybe I'm not alone, but if the 5 is a let down, I'll be waiting 3 years (iphone 5S) to see if it's something worth upgrading to.

Everyone thinks of it differently, but people do have a point when they say things seem to be slowing down a lot. The competition handsets are really starting to become appealing. At some stage that has to have apple thinking.

.

 

[twigman08]

Ask most every day users out there that aren't tech geeks would they use NFC, or hell if they have even heard of it! That is the market the iPhone is in really. My grandmother has an iPhone! The majority of the answers will be "what's NFC?"

I just asked my room mate if she knew what NFC was. She isn't a tech geek but knows more than the average consumer and average user of the iPhone. She has never heard of it. I just don't feel NFC is worth just throwing it in a phone just because you can. Let NFC develop more and actually become main stream. I live in a pretty big city. I know of only one store around me that I could use NFC.

 

[gta50419]

who keeps their fingernails that long?

Their not even that long
Mines longer then that

 

[spl456]

You guys should go to Asia sometime. It is VERY common for men to keep their fingernails this long...especially the pinky nail. This isn't a woman.

Yep. They have this thing where men grow 1 nail longer than the others. Some stupid Asian thing. Creeps me out.

 

[gta50419]

This is fake.

Apple doubles down on security, yet every RUMOR website has purported photos of the new iPhone...riiiiiight.

possible one of the only members on macrumors with some common sense.....

 

[lilo777]

Ask most every day users out there that aren't tech geeks would they use NFC, or hell if they have even heard of it! That is the market the iPhone is in really. My grandmother has an iPhone! The majority of the answers will be "what's NFC?"

I just asked my room mate if she knew what NFC was. She isn't a tech geek but knows more than the average consumer and average user of the iPhone. She has never heard of it. I just don't feel NFC is worth just throwing it in a phone just because you can. Let NFC develop more and actually become main stream. I live in a pretty big city. I know of only one store around me that I could use NFC.

Those same people probably do not know what BlueTooth or WiFi is either. Would you suggest Apple to drop these technologies too? In fact NFC is probably the easiest one to use out of these three and might be more useful for many than BT.

 

[nerdflower]

This story on appleinsider says Passbook doesn't use NFC as well.

Edit: As if that confirms anything

 

[agent 86]

Not a make or break feature for me at this time.

I've had 2 phones with NFC and there was no real benefit.

I can see the potential for easy pairing and sharing though.

No NFC might not be a dealbreaker today, but over next 18 months it pretty much will. I was biding my time for this update & will probably be jumping the Apple ship.

 

[Technarchy]

No NFC might not be a dealbreaker today, but over next 18 months it pretty much will. I was biding my time for this update & will probably be jumping the Apple ship.

The NFC situation will be the same in 18 months as it is now, but good luck.

 

[CindyRed]

I think you are greatly underestimating how useful NFC can be and how widespread it is outside of the United States. Just to give you an example: NFC is used in multiple European counties for the public transport (think about a bus, train, metro, etc.).

In Asia it is used for even more things. It's really the US who is lagging behind in this case.

This isn't a question about who has NFC technologies and who doesn't. The question is: What will the standard be? For example, Swedish X-transit systems use a completely different NFC signal then say a cafe or pastry chain, and a completely different technology is used in Tesco marts across the U.K. Not just varying signals than either of the two, but a whole different technology altogether. While in Canada, the PRESTO transit NFC payment option uses a proprietary card system only compatible with a specific code. With hundreds of options, the NFC chip in a cellular telephone won't be able to cope with the different types on a global scale. Thus, an international standard must be met before Apple decides on NFC for the future. Besides, as an American company, Apple first thinks locally before tackling Globally, as any good corporation should. For now, passbook is a decent alternative.

 

[MattInOz]

I'd love if apple incorporated NFC. But i understand if they dont. Apple never rushes to be the first to jump on technology like this. But when they do, it'll be right, and it will be useful. Right now it's just something that would be a cool addition. And that's pretty much it. Once it's starts gaining traction, then it'll be a different story.

Problem is the the company that gets the traction will also get the Developers.
So Apple is in the position that they have the developers, the developers know the system. Apple has the retailers interested in building out transaction systems using commodity hardware like iPhones, iPod touches and iPads, to not have NFC while the other systems do is just leaving the door open for someone else to come in service that opportunity.

Not saying NFC is the drop dead thing to that but it's certainly an important piece of the puzzle.

 

[billbarlow]

"No NFC?" Might be "No PROB!"

It's possible Apple will "Think Different" in the march toward enabling Mobile-Device-As-Currency transactions.

Research Farm’s Pablo Saez Gil indicates there's a Trojan Horse of sorts, ALREADY INSIDE millions of iPhones -- even pre-iPhone 5 devices -- RIGHT NOW!

Unlike NFC, it's said to have a range of 50 meters, meaning you could pay almost anywhere in the store. (Does that remind you of any existing stores that sell Apple products.... hmmmm?)

Another advantage of "anywhere" payments is that it bypasses those traditional, fixed POS (point of sale) terminals/registers -- the later of which are already joined at the hip to last-generation payment processors like banks and financial firms.

SOURCE:
http://www.cultofmac.com/167758/why-apples-iwallet-wont-have-anything-to-do-with-nfc/

 

[Reason077]

For all their international sales I think Apple is still a US centric company at heart. It seems that if it isn't mainstream in the US they ain't interested.

I think you're right to some extent. But at least they're not as bad as Amazon, who are incredibly slow to bring out their latest products to international markets. We're only just getting the Kindle Fire now in the UK, about a year after it was introduced? WTF!

 

[iSamurai]

I am absolutely shocked that some people have automatically declared NFC a useless technology because you haven't SEEN it being used, and you'd never use it yourself merely because you don't even understand what it is capable of.

1. Travel outside of your country, particularly to Asia and some countries in Europe where it is used for everything from vending machines to public transportation.

2. Just because you think it is useless doesn't mean it is. How can you not be comfortable using it to pay for something?

3. I've seen it used myself in my area, where it is available at grocery stores, clothing retailers, and gas stations. I've seen people who I wouldn't label as a techie use it as well.


I love Apple but some of you apologists/loyalists are getting ridiculous. There was once a time when Apple had ALL of the cutting edge features, and their phones were HANDS DOWN the best for both their features, performance and for the software. Unfortunately, they've fallen behind on nearly all counts.

If the iPhone 5 doesn't impress me, my current 4S will sadly be my last iPhone.

True. I think Australia is no where close to Japan/SK but NFC is definitely making its presence felt. Almost all supermarket/restaurant/fast food outlet credit card terminals now accept NFC... even convenience stores and newsagents have them. And as for public transport, Brisbane & SEQ, Melbourne, Perth already use them and soon Sydney will too...

and IMO the iPhone 5 seems to be a rather US oriented phone... also many of the features in the new maps app aren't mapped overseas yet; map data seems incorrect and not detailed (from the beta that I'm using), and the local stores/restaurants aren't populated... meh.

 

[Tilezzzzz]

Iphone 5 will have NFC

Its obvious the Iphone 5 will have NFC. Simple.

All the stuff about it not having NFC is prob just miss information put out by apple so people will be supprised when it does have it. Also isnt the NFC chip on mobiles normally a really tiny thing on the back cover or in the battery.

They briefly anounced the PayPass thing in IOS 6 it wouldent make sense without NFC.

 

[69650]

I think you're right to some extent. But at least they're not as bad as Amazon, who are incredibly slow to bring out their latest products to international markets. We're only just getting the Kindle Fire now in the UK, about a year after it was introduced? WTF!

Apple are actually very good at releasing in the UK not long after the US. I would agree with you that Amazon are absolutely terrible. By the time we get their products almost a year later they invariably have a new version out in the US. That does piss me off. There is no reason for it whatsoever. They could just make some more and roll it out internationally at the same time. I'm particularly pissed off that the new Kindle Paperwite isn't launching here as I would actually like to buy that. I've always been put off buying the Kindle by the lack of a back light. Presumably we would have to wait a whole year to get that now. Well I say ******* 'em - if you're going to behave like that Amazon then I'm going to buy the iPad Mini instead. The price differential doesn't matter that much to me.

 

[twigman08]

Those same people probably do not know what BlueTooth or WiFi is either. Would you suggest Apple to drop these technologies too? In fact NFC is probably the easiest one to use out of these three and might be more useful for many than BT.

You can't be serious. They might not know the exact techno mumbo jumbo of both of these technologies but they have at least heard of them. If you know consumers who have never heard of BlueTooth (I don't mean how to use it, just at least heard the term before)or WiFi then I am willing to bet they don't even have an iPhone. My grandmother has even heard of BlueTooth! Heck she even has a BlueTooth headset (I did pair it up for her, but she at least had heard of the tech)! The point is she has heard of them and most consumers have heard of BlueTooth and WiFi. You missed my point that most consumers have never heard of NFC. Hell even some tech people don't know all the devices out there that support NFC! The point is NFC is not mainstream.

Until most consumers have at least heard of NFC and even most tech people can tell people what devices have the NFC Technology then it will be mainstream and important to have. NFC is not a term you hear tech people talk about every day. BlueTooth and WiFi are. You say NFC in a sentence to regular consumer people they will have zero idea what you are talking about. At least if you the terms BlueTooth and Wifi they will at least heard of them and have SOME idea what it is.