The rumors of Apple’s iPhone family receiving NFC capabilities for mobile payments have been around for years. They first started popping up shortly after the launch of the iPhone 5 and haven’t let up since.
Now, Wired is reporting that NFC functionality is coming — for real this time — with the launch of the iPhone 6. The onboard NFC chip will form the basis of an Apple-branded payment system that will be announced at the September 9 keynote event, an event which has now been cofirmed.
Wired states Apple has the perfect platform for launching such a mobile payment service, as it already has nearly a billion credit cards on file courtesy of its iTunes service for music, apps, and video. When combined with Touch ID, an NFC chip, Bluetooth LE via iBeacons, and a hardware security chip, Apple’s solution could prove to be a potent competitor in the mobile payments arena.
4.7″ iPhone 6 (L), iPhone 5s (C), and 5.5″ iPhone 6 (R); location for NFC ship pictured in red.
In a separate report, Mac Rumors has posted images of bare logic boards for both the 4.7” and 5.5” iPhone 6 which appear to show the location for the NFC chip.