New high-resolution photos surfaced over the weekend showing what is expected to be the much thinner iPhone 6 following a report from Venture Beat that corroborates several other claims that the next generation iPhone will feature a larger display than previous models. Included in that report are also claims that Apple will opt for implementing NFC (near field communication), wireless charging, and improved LTE in the next iPhone refresh expected later this year…
The report claims that Apple’s use of NFC in the iPhone 6 is expected but pending on progress with developing its mobile payment system. Last month we reported that Apple is currently in talks with high profile retailers as it moves forward with developing its mobile payment system.
In past years, Apple has publicly taken a stance against the use of NFC as it decidedly opted against including it in their hardware. See this 2012 interview from AllThingsD with Phil Schiller, for example:
In that same interview, Apple’s SVP of Marketing downplayed the appeal, too, of wireless charging on devices.
Those comments haven’t stopped additional rumors of NFC and wireless charging from surfacing in the past ahead of anticipated hardware refreshes, and Apple certainly isn’t against changing its narrative as it tackles an old problem in its own way.
“Having to create another device you have to plug into the wall is actually, for most situations, more complicated,” Schiller said.
As for improved LTE, the report claims that the iPhone 6 will move to a better LTE radio capable of 300 megabits per second over the current 150 mbps capable radios used.
See also our report on the larger, 1704×960 resolution display Apple is currently testing.
