iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus NFC Chips Only for Use With Apple Pay

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus NFC Chips Only for Use With Apple Pay
Advertisement
Apple in an email statement has confirmed that the NFC chip on the new iPhone devices can only be used with Apple Pay.

An Apple Spokeswoman (unnamed) in an email to Cult of Mac said, "NFC chip on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is only for use with Apple Pay."

According to the report, The Cupertino-based giant declined to comment on the company's "future plans for the NFC chip."

(Also see: Apple a Decade Behind Japan Mobile Payment Curve)

The news might come as a shock to many who might have been waiting for the NFC connectivity feature on the iPhone models to use it in different ways (pair with speakers etc). However, Apple is famous for limiting a new feature that the company introduces in its devices. The Bluetooth experience on iOS, for example, is still very limited compared to that on other platforms.

It's also worth noting that the Apple Touch ID, which debuted on the iPhone 5s, was not accessible to any third-party apps. Apple announced it will open Touch ID authentication for third-party apps only at this year's WWDC event.

(Also see: Will the Apple Pay Mobile Wallet Kill the Plastic Credit Card?)

Back on the NFC connectivity, PC Advisor quotes RapidNFC, an NFC tag provider as saying, "At the moment, there isn't any open access to the NFC controller. There are currently no NFC APIs in the iOS 8 GM SDK - which would indicate that the NFC capability will be restricted to Apple Pay at launch."

Notably, Apple had previewed extended capabilities of its NFC on the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beyond Apple Pay, giving examples of unlocking the hotel room, among others.

"This is a classic use case [the hotel example] for NFC and gives some indication that the NFC controller will be open to developers at some point. Given the 'newness' of contactless payments for the general US consumer and the recent security breaches it's not surprising Apple wants to keep this closed for a while," told Craig Tadlock, CEO and founder of GoToTags to PC Advisor.

(Also see: Apple Pay Looks to Accelerate Mobile Payments Push)

Apple launched two larger iPhones - iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - alongside a smartwatch called Apple Watch and company's new mobile payments service Apple Pay in Cupertino, California last week.

  • REVIEW
  • KEY SPECS
  • NEWS
  • Variants
  • Design
  • Display
  • Software
  • Performance
  • Battery Life
  • Camera
  • Value for Money
  • Good
  • Thin, light, easy to handle
  • Excellent camera
  • Superb performance
  • Reasonably good battery life
  • Bad
  • Limited storage
Display 4.70-inch
Processor Apple A8
Front Camera 1.2-megapixel
Rear Camera 8-megapixel
RAM 1GB
Storage 16GB
Battery Capacity 1810mAh
OS iOS 8.0
Resolution 750x1334 pixels
  • REVIEW
  • KEY SPECS
  • NEWS
  • Variants
  • Design
  • Display
  • Software
  • Performance
  • Battery Life
  • Camera
  • Value for Money
  • Good
  • Fantastic performance
  • Very good battery life
  • Excellent camera
  • Bad
  • Large and awkward to use
  • Lacks software optimisations
Display 5.50-inch
Processor Apple A8
Front Camera 1.2-megapixel
Rear Camera 8-megapixel
RAM 1GB
Storage 16GB
Battery Capacity 2915mAh
OS iOS 8.0
Resolution 1080x1920 pixels
Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Ketan Pratap
Ketan Pratap is the editor at Gadgets 360 - with over 12 years of experience covering the technology domain. With a breadth and depth of knowledge in the field, he's done extensive work across news, features, reviews, and opinion pieces. But what's truly inspiring about Ketan is how he spends his free time. He's often found gazing at snow-capped mountains from over 20,000 feet while sitting on the hood of his car, taking in the breathtaking beauty of nature. His passion for the great ...More
Hike Messenger Targets 100 Million Users by End of 2015
Google Wants to Teach Programming to Millions of Girls
Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat LinkedIn Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News

Advertisement

Follow Us
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »