Apple Restricting NFC use in iPhone 6, 6 Plus

It’s official: Apple will be restricting the use of NFC chips in the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch to the Apple Pay service. Among dashed dreams of finally getting NFC technology to unlock phones, change settings and share information, Apple fans can take solace in the fact that Apple once also limited the use of Touch ID when it was first launched. Now, with iOS 8, that capability has been opened to developers. It’s therefore safe to assume that the NFC chips will also be released for use eventually. The restriction was reported by FierceWireless, CNet, The Verge and the Cult of Mac, and confirmed by Apple representatives. These devices are the first Apple devices to have NFC technology and FierceWireless reports that Apple has stated that the restrictions would be in place for at least a year. When asked if the NFC capability would remain restricted after a year, Apple declined to comment. NFC has been supported on both Android and Windows platforms for several years with no restrictions on how they can be used. However, these platforms don’t have a dedicated mobile pay system like Apple Pay and NFC is generally used for short range wireless information transfer. For an overview of the iPhone 6 family, Apple Watch and Apple Pay, check out this post.  ]]>

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