iPhone 5 Rumors: LTE, “Duh” NFC, “Huh?”
Posted by Michael Nace on Wednesday Aug 15, 2012 Under Apple RumorsNew news out of Asia all but confirms the notion that the iPhone 5 will indeed be an LTE smartphone. But will new news of NFC revitalizes the hope of iWallet?
It’s hard to write consistently about the iPhone 5 rumors these days, since many of the “breaking news” stories are non-starters. What am I going to write about? The dock connector? Again? How about some el cheap-o iPhone 5 cases?
I don’t think so.
Today, as I saw the reports out of Korea that Apple is in talks with Korean mobile carriers about implementing LTE on then next iPhone, I yawned. How is this big news? The New iPad is LTE, thus, by extension, so too will the iPhone 5. By rolling out LTE on the iPad 3, Apple negated any coolness factor for LTE being announced on the iPhone 5. We now expect it.
But for the sake of being thorough (not always a strong suit for us bloggers), here’s a quote from the Korea Times, who broke the story:
“SK Telecom and KT are in talks to offer long-term evolution (LTE) connectivity on Apple’s next handset, tentatively named the iPhone 5, officials from the companies said Wednesday. . . Officials from the nation’s biggest mobile carrier are currently in Apple headquarters in California to persuade Apple to support SK’s LTE frequency for its local customers. SK representatives didn’t respond to questions on the matter while Apple spokesman in Korea Steve Park declined to give any updates on the talks.”
Lucky for us, officials in Asia always seem more willing to spill the beans on details like this than here in the U.S.. But again, it should not come as much of a surprise that LTE will be one of the iPhone’s upgrades.
NFC, on the other hand, is another story. (Or is it?)
In some of the reporting on LTE today, mentioning of unfounded NFC payment tech for the iPhone 5 also popped up. The Examiner had this to say: “Experts are now confident that new antenna ports also indicate changes in the WLAN, LTE and NFC sector.” These “antenna ports” apparently come from those “stunning” logic board photos, which means that these “experts” have divined that NFC is a part of the iPhone 5 package. Even those those logic boards are totally bare.
Any logic in this rumor?
Northern Voices seconded the NFC motion, saying that the “NFC feature will make iPhone 5 one of the leading smartphones in market. The smartphone market is currently caught up with top handsets from Samsung, HTC and other Android product makers. Most of these machines, for example Samsung Galaxy SIII, have NFC as a title feature.” but do these late-breaking stories really shore up the belief that the iPhone 5 will really have NFC?
Prior to this mini wave of NFC chatter, the more reliable tech pundits have sort of oscillated between “yes” and “no” on the iPhone 5 NFC issue. On June 25th, ABC‘s Joanna Stern felt pretty confident that NFC was becoming a reality, noting that “data found in code for the next iPhone reveals that the phone will have NFC controllers. To back up its claim, the site points to patents for NFC that have been filed by Apple. It also quotes the chief technology officer of SITA, an air transportation organization, who is convinced NFC is coming to the next iPhone.”
The lovable Jonny Evans over at Computerworld did a more middling follow-up, providing both side of the debate, while Emily Price at Mashablewas palpably more pessimistic. So, what does all of this add up to? In the end, I think it adds up to the simple notion that no one has any idea about NFC one way or another. We know that Apple has the plans and technology — and the desire. What we don’t know is if Cupertino is ready to handle all of the collateral work that will/would make iWallet a success. Google and its design partners were clearly not willing to go the extra step in its own NFC implementations, and as a result, Android’s NFC is a token feature at best. But in an iPhone rumor season where little appears to be kept to the imagination, at least NFC remains a definite unknown as we head towards September.
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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August 15th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
The biggest deal about LTE for South Korea is because they use a different frequency than most of the world. If the new iPhone has LYE in S. Korea Apple will have to build a separate device with different radios than the rest of the world. Not something Apple usually likes to do. They’ve been trying to get a one device fits all, so to speak. For example, LTE on the new iPad doesn’t work in S. Korea, or Australia. It’s not a big deal in N. America, but for others it is.
I’m still undecided on NFC. Apple will probably want their own proprietary system. The biggest problem with NFC is there’s no standard. Google has their way, the carriers have formed a consortium, and today a group of retailers formed a group for a standard. Not to mention the banks and credit card companies.
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August 15th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
honestly i think NFC is an amazing feature and is the next step in smart phone innovation.. Apple has the consumer base to make NFC actually useable on a daily basis, but as the previous guy said there are so many different implementations of NFC today so I dont know Apple is going to make it possible. I’m pretty sure they may put NFC inside the iphone 5 and have their own way to use it but I think that after the phone releases they’ll start negotiating with big companies to make NFC worthwhile.
After all.. if there’s any company that can make NFC workable, its def Apple
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August 15th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
As far as standards go, I think that the market should decide, and see what pops up as the best. Too often, a “standard by committee” has leaders from the largest players in the market, and they dictate the outcome.
However, if the market decides what is best, then the standard is attained, then there is a bit of confusion up front, but on the back end, it is more customer friendly, as the public won’t put up with a cruddy standard from company X, and move elsewhere for a reliable, customer friendly one.
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August 15th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
What I see apple doing at first with NFC is a SG3 thing where the phones can connect. Then I see other items start to come out to work with it. You want airplay? Tap your apple tv (or speaker). You want to connect to a router? Tap. You want to sync to itunes? Tap. I think then they will start having mobile payments and stuff later.
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August 15th, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Michael, I have to give you kudos for being able to keep the same news about all the anticipations for the iPhone 5 interesting for the past 2 years. I hope you won’t have to do the same for the iPhone 6. On second thought though I’m glad apple didn’t try to rush, and stuff things like NFC and LTE into the 4s when the world wasn’t ready for it. The iPhone 5 is 2 years in the making now so I have high expectations for it.
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August 15th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
honestly could care less about NFC. There are several features I am more interested in, such as LTE, quad core processor, AT LEAST 4″ screen, and extended battery life.
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August 15th, 2012 at 11:38 pm
@Will, don’t forget the nano-sim! We went from SIM straight to nano-SIM without even stopping at mini or micro! This thing must be nano-scopic!
Can you tell I’m over hyperboled?
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August 16th, 2012 at 12:09 am
The thing with LTE in South Korea is that it uses bands in a different frequency than in the U.S. and Canada (Just how the current iPhones can’t use T-Mobile’s 3G/4G HSPA/HSPA+ connections). They are trying to convince Apple to include chipsets with their frequency bands on the next iPhone. This would actually help the iPhone be a more global phone, since it can be used in mostly the whole world (Except that Chinese carrier that uses a whole different technology…. it’s neither GSM or CDMA. I don’t remember the name of the carrier.)
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August 16th, 2012 at 12:54 am
Just give me lock landscape!
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August 16th, 2012 at 1:44 am
Great article as usual. LTE should be a given, hopefully NFC’s in there but if not it won’t be the end of the world, though there will be people that will criticize them. Heck, Apple could come out with a 64 core, HD 4inch screen iPhone that prints money out of thin air and people would have some kind of gripe with it. Just sit back and enjoy the ride!
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August 16th, 2012 at 1:50 am
Thing is Apple utilises 700MHz LTE which is only available in North America only. The rest of the civilised world uses 800MHz. Apple needs to realise that greater population live outside US and Canada. Hence LTE/4G only works in US and Canada.
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August 16th, 2012 at 4:07 am
I’m not too stoked about NFC just yet. I like the idea of NFC but not the first few implementations.
I’d be particularly worried about security. Inevitably the first few iterations will be cracked by those with nefarious intentions and with direct access to my cash via a radio signal, you wouldn’t even know you were being mugged.
It’ll get ironed out in the end and will be tremendously useful but, for now, I’ll watch and wait.
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August 16th, 2012 at 4:09 am
Sorry for the double-post.
I also wanted to say that whilst there is a Blu-ray vs HD-DVD battle going on between the rival consortiums, carriers, vendors and manufacturers the security issue is likely to be amplified.
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August 16th, 2012 at 10:17 am
@Cristian, the Qualcomm multi-mode baseband will very likely include the Chinese TD-LTE as well as the European & US versions of LTE. In theory, it should be a true global phone covering most of the world.
NFC, I’ll wait a while before I link my bank or credit card to my phone for payments. Used a wireless payment terminal at my work cafeteria two weeks ago. Got hit with fraud on both my debit card & credit card. Banks detected and stopped the activity. I still have some items pending on the CCD. No loss to me, but that terminal used the latest encryption technology, and thieves were still able to steal credit card info from a lot of employees at my company. Is NFC vulnerable while i’m walking downtown? At a club? I don’t know, but i’m less confident now until it’s proven over time in real world use.
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August 16th, 2012 at 10:32 am
The thing with LTE in South Korea is that it uses bands in a different frequency than in the U.S. and Canada..!!!!
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August 16th, 2012 at 10:40 am
As I put in a post earlier this week, the idea of having a battery operated credit card is a bit unnerving…
Forms of payment:
Cash – (Almost*) Universally accepted. However, once lost, anyone that finds it can use it.
Debit/Credit Card – Again, almost universally accepted (except at person-person transactions, like garage sales), gives a record of use, and if lost, limited loss of funds. Has two-factor authentication, and is cheap to make. Just keep it away from magnets and the kids. However, if you leave home without it, you have no (or little) recourse.
NFC – Limited acceptance, can be used to pay as cash with two person (garage sale) activities, has record of transactions, can be made secure to have two factor authentication (two factor is a physical device and a non-physical way to use it, like a card and a pin), however, once the battery is dead on the NFC device, it doesn’t work anymore.
*Don’t try to bring cash to a home closing. They’ll tell you to get a certified check… Ask me how I know this.
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August 16th, 2012 at 11:28 am
@Jeff, I suppose when you are stuck somewhere and your phone battery dies, if you have cash or your credit card, at least you have options.
If your phone WAS your cash and credit card and is dead, you’re pretty stumped.
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August 16th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
@Oscar… In the process of writing that, I think I was turning the corner on liking NFC.
That, and having a spare charge cord and a backup battery.
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August 16th, 2012 at 6:05 pm
I wouldn’t like the ability to have my credit card or bank account linked to my “iWallet”. I would like an experience that integrates it with my iTunes account. Let’s say I go to my closest Walmart, get a $50 iTunes gift card and reedeem it on my account. I could later also use that money not just to pay for music and apps, but also buy a pack of gum and some vitamin water at the convenience store. That would be safer in my opinion.
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August 17th, 2012 at 1:24 am
What about security regarding NFC? Did anyone notice Apple’s acquisition of Autgentec? Facial recognition or fingerprint scan?
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August 17th, 2012 at 4:21 am
@Jeff,
“That, and having a spare charge cord and a backup battery”
Yeah, if they could sort out the battery issue so the phones lasted half as long as my old Nokia 3310 then it wouldn’t be an issue.
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August 17th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
NFC? They will prob just try to get along on Passbook.
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