"Hey Siri" support and possibly wireless charging case alongside AirPower charging mat.
Apple Restricting Use of NFC Antenna in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to Apple Pay
The NFC antenna found on Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will only be used with the company's "Apple Pay" mobile payment solution and will not be available to developers for use in third-party apps, reports Cult of Mac. The confirmation comes by way of an Apple spokeswoman, who also declined to comment on future plans for the technology's use in other instances.
The move is similar to the Touch ID sensor's debut on the iPhone 5s last year, as Apple restricted its use to iTunes purchases and device unlocking. However, Apple announced at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference that developers would be able to integrate Touch ID into their iOS 8 apps. It is possible that Apple will allow NFC to be used with third-party apps at some point in the future, however it appears that the company is focused on polishing the technology for use with its own services.
Apple Pay will first launch in the United States next month as an update to iOS 8, and will be featured in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as the Apple Watch when it launches next year. The service will be compatible with American Express, Mastercard and Visa credit/debit cards, with 220,000 U.S. retail stores listed as partners. Apple will also be launching an Apple Pay API for developers to integrate the service into their apps.
The move is similar to the Touch ID sensor's debut on the iPhone 5s last year, as Apple restricted its use to iTunes purchases and device unlocking. However, Apple announced at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference that developers would be able to integrate Touch ID into their iOS 8 apps. It is possible that Apple will allow NFC to be used with third-party apps at some point in the future, however it appears that the company is focused on polishing the technology for use with its own services.
Apple Pay will first launch in the United States next month as an update to iOS 8, and will be featured in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as the Apple Watch when it launches next year. The service will be compatible with American Express, Mastercard and Visa credit/debit cards, with 220,000 U.S. retail stores listed as partners. Apple will also be launching an Apple Pay API for developers to integrate the service into their apps.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: cultofmac.com
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56 months ago
They are locking it down to make sure ApplePay is successful first. They wouldn't want someone else building a better platform on their hardware before they first get their system rolled out.
56 months ago
useless hardware feature for the rest of world then ...
oh apple why do you always have to restrict every new implementation
oh apple why do you always have to restrict every new implementation
56 months ago
Disappointing. I hope they open it by iOS 9 or earlier. There are a lot of great uses for this beyond payments.
56 months ago
I'm not saying that it's going to seem like the greatest idea to offer those restrictions in an immediate sense, but long term, it's what's going to weed out all the half-assed efforts that have fallen by the way side and establish NFC as a legitimate tool of this day and age. Once that happens, others will be able to implement similar systems into their devices, and it will be what it already should have been on a global scale.
Apple's effort is half assed and US only.
Meanwhile the rest of the world will be progressing apace with contactless cards, and Apple will be left behind. Third parties might have been able to fill the gap, but instead this is iTunes Radio and Apple TV all over again - a parochial solution by a company blinded in it's US centricity, missing the boat.
56 months ago
Good. Opening it up to other NFC payment solutions just increases the security risk for Apple and its customers.
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