A new report from Morgan Stanley supports previous reports that claim Apple will add NFC to the iPhone 6 to be used with its upcoming iWallet mobile payments system.
Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone smartphones have been released with a popular hardware feature Apple has left out of its smartphones for years. The company has been rumored for years to include the feature in its latest smartphone, but those rumors remain just that. Apple is reportedly getting ready to embrace NFC for the first time and the company will use it as part of its rumored iWallet mobile payments system.
Apple has always been the company to wait and see what works before adopting a specific technology in its devices. The company is still practically the only smartphone maker that does not offer a removable battery on at least one of its iPhones. It takes the approach that it knows best and will adopt a new feature when it's the right time and when it has figured out a way to make it work. Apple dragged its feet on smartphones with larger displays for years and a recent leaked slide from the company revealed it was losing smartphone customers to Android because consumers want larger displays, along with lower prices. The company is expected to release a larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 sometime this fall.
The iPhone 6 will also reportedly be the first iPhone to ship with a built in NFC controller. A new Morgan Stanley report claims Apple will likely adopt an NFC controller inside the iPhone 6 to be used with its rumored iWallet mobile payments system that is also expected to use Touch ID in conjunction with NFC.
Many Android smartphones ship with NFC, which allows the devices to beam images and information by tapping handsets and it's also used with Google Wallet, Google's Android-based mobile payments system.
If the report is true, Apple will likely highlight that the reason it finally added NFC to the iPhone for mobile payments is because its iWallet system is more secure as it uses the company's Touch ID verification system, which can currently authorize iTunes purchases.
