Another week, another leak. Rumors about the hotly anticipated iPhone 6 will not cease until Apple finally decides to tell us something about it. This week, the latest that the rumor mill has to offer is a set of photos coming out of China that is supposed to show proof of NFC compatibility and faster Wi-Fi.
French website Nowhereelse, which claims to have "particularly reliable" sources, has posted photos of what appears to be the motherboard of the iPhone 6. Nowhereelse editor Steve Hemmerstoffer says the design of the new logic board is "essentially identical" to that of earlier iPhones, although the top bracket looks to be longer than usual, which is not surprising since analysts and industry experts have all agreed that Apple is most likely going to release a phone with a larger display this time.
Hemmerstoffer says the leaked logic board photos show evidence for the inclusion of support for near field communication (NFC), a feature that Apple has been rumored to adopt for the longest time. NFC, which is a short-range connectivity standard that links two devices together, is said to be necessary for e-wallet functions, which Apple is believed to have been mulling over for several years. With NFC included in the iPhone 6, which Hemmerstoffer says is identified as N56 or N61, customers will be able to use their iPhones to purchase physical and digital goods with a simple swipe of their smartphones.
However, the photos themselves do not show the chips for NFC but only a bare logic board that lines up with earlier leaked photos showing the purported rear shell parts of the iPhone 6. The earlier images come from Russian manufacturer of modified luxury iPhones Feld & Volk, which says that the Apple logo embedded on the iPhone's back panel will serve as an NFC antenna.
Hemmerstoffer also says that Apple will include 802.11ac Wi-Fi on the next iPhone. Although neither NFC nor 802.11ac Wi-Fi can be claimed just by looking at the leaked motherboard photos, the inclusion of faster Wi-Fi is more likely since Apple's current line of Mac computers already support the technology. However, Hemmerstoffer warns customers to take any iPhone 6 rumor with a grain of salt until the rumor comes from out of Cupertino itself.
"The rumor suggests that the next smartphone [from] California can finally be equipped with NFC technology seems to be confirmed," he says [in French]. "Nevertheless, remain cautions vis-à-vis the latter information. I'm not able to ensure the reliability for the moment."
The iPhone 6 is said to be released during a keynote Apple event during the second or third weeks of September and will come with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants. Analysts believe Apple will launch its next iteration of its flagship smartphone with a huge bang, saying that the company's increased spending for third-party products and services is indicative of major upgrades for the iPhone and a variety of other Apple products, including the Apple iWatch.
