All the conversation about the NFC chip in the iPhone 6 has so far centered around enabling mobile payments. But that’s not all we should be talking about. NFC is a technology standard that specifies a set of radio frequencies used by two devices in close physical proximity to exchange files and data.
VentureBeat reported in June that an NFC chip will (finally) be included in the iPhone 6, which will be unveiled September 9. The chip will be made by NXP, our source says. More recent reports cite sources saying that Apple is also partnering with MasterCard, Visa, and American Express, companies that have already sold their (NFC-compatible) payment technology to merchants. But even with Apple enabling payments on the phone, there’s no guarantee that merchants will get behind the technology. In fact, some merchants have already come out against it.
However, if mobile payments don’t take off right away, there will still be a couple of cards for Apple to play. As it turns out, mobile payments may be the least interesting thing the NFC radio in the iPhone 6 does: NFC chips have three modes: “card emulation” (for payments and ticketing), “peer-to-peer,” and “reader/writer.” The second two open up some interesting possibilities for device pairing, data sharing, and NFC tag scanning.