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Home / News / iChanged my mind: the iPhone 6 could be the first Apple product to have NFC

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iChanged my mind: the iPhone 6 could be the first Apple product to have NFC

Leaked iPhone 6 internals point to a future where NFC mobile payments will rule the roost

Esat Dedezade

The iPhone 6 could mark the end of Apple’s shunning of NFC.

A reportedly genuine iPhone 6 internal logic board has leaked on French site Nowehereelse.fr, and the source which supplied the photos claims that the iPhone 6 will be the first iDevice with NFC capabilities.

While the board itself could very well be the real deal (screw holes in the board appear to line up with those found in leaked iPhone 6 shells), there are no chips on the board itself.

The lack of chips means that we can’t confirm what processor the iPhone 6 will be packing inside it at launch, and it also means that we’ve only got the source’s word to go on, with regards to NFC inclusion.

Still, there have been signs pointing to Apple embracing the wireless technology. Earlier this year, analysts predicted that Apple was looking to incorporate NFC into its next generation of iPhones, and a patent application outlining a virtual NFC wallet stored on a phone supports this prediction.

Apple has also reportedly begun to upgrade its retail point-of-sale systems to support NFC, so this latest rumour seems plausible.

If Apple does choose to adopt NFC then it could pave the way for a widespread mobile payment revolution.

Currently, wireless mobile phone payment points in the UK are scarce at best, but with a giant power like Apple adopting the tech and pushing contactless payments, the future for NFC payments looks very bright indeed.

Now all we need is an app to link our Oyster cards and work passes into a Passbook-like NFC hub app, and we’ll be very happy gadgeteers indeed.

READ MORE: Apple iPhone 6: specs, price, release date – everything we think we know

[Nowwhereelse.fr via AppleInsider]

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About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.