Apple’s move to integrate NFC in its latest iPhone 6 seemed like the perfect way to push the technology even further to the masses, but Apple’s implementation isn’t going to be as open as Android and Windows Phone equivalents. Following a report from Cult of Mac, Apple has confirmed to The Verge that its NFC chip in the iPhone 6 is restricted to Apple Pay, the company’s new mobile payments platform. That means pairing to Bluetooth speakers or exchanging contacts, URLs, and photos with a tap won’t work initially.
Apple’s iPhone 6 NFC chip is restricted to Apple Pay
is a senior correspondent and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years.
There’s still hope for the future though. Apple restricted its Touch ID fingerprint sensor in a similar way for the iPhone 5S, but the company has opened it up to third-party developers with iOS 8. While NFC is restricted to Apple Pay for the iPhone 6 right now, it’s possible, and likely, that Apple will extend this to developers in a future release of iOS. For now, you’ll have to pay for goods using Apple Pay if you want to experiment with NFC on the iPhone 6.
Apple Pay hands-on
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