iPhone 5 a no-go for NFC with current technology

This week there's been quite a bit of talk on the possibility of NFC technology finding its way into the new iPhone set for release later this year (or as soon as a month from now) – as it turns out, it might not be possible at all. With analysis done by Brian Klug and Anand Lal Shimpi of AnandTech this week on the new iPhone, it's made quite simple: NFC chips wouldn't fit with the iPhone 5 model we've seen so far. With the metal panels on the backside and the glass (or plastic) panels at the top and the bottom being too small to support our current NFC technology, it's extremely unlikely that the wireless capability will be included in this generation of Apple smartphone.

There's been another bit of confirmation on this absence of NFC in the new iPhone with a simple "yep" from Jim Darlrymple of The Loop. On the other hand, a brand new Apple patent has appeared today that brings on "Motion based payment confirmation" for the Apple collection of devices. NFC is included specifically as one of several platforms that will work with this mobile payment confirmation technology.

This patent includes the following text describing how it will work (or already works, as it were).

Payment transactions increasingly occur without the use of physical payment objects such as credit cards or cash. For example, online purchases may be made using credit card information stored in an online account maintained by a merchant or by a payment service such as PayPal. Further, financial account information may be stored on electronic devices and transferred using contactless means, such as near field communication (NFC), radio-frequency identification (RFID), or networking, to complete payment transactions.

So it's not impossible that the iPhone 5 will have mobile payments in one or more ways, but it's unlikely that it'll be with NFC specifically. Have a peek at our iPhone 5 tag to see all the rumors you could possibly want or need, and check the timeline below for more NFC news related to the iPhone as well – we'll see soon!

[via AppleInsider]