iPhone 5 May Have NFC After All

Rumors have claimed the iPhone 5 will include Near Field Communication technology, or not. Now a new rumor has surfaced claiming that Apple will include the wireless technology in the next iPhone, and that companies building NFC readers are expecting the technology to show up in the combination iPod and smartphone, too.

Near Field Communication, or NFC, is a technology that lets users pay for products and services, or trigger actions by putting an NFC-enabled device in range of a scanner. The expectation is that Apple will include NFC in the iPhone 5 so consumers can use their smartphone as a digital wallet.

NFC in iPhone 5? Maybe.iPhone 5 NFC rumors are back on

This latest rumor, however, relies on a fairly thin information chain. The news comes via an anonymous entrepreneur working on a “top secret” NFC product who spoke with an unnamed friend who also happens to be an Apple employee, according to Forbes.

Apparently NFC reader companies are gearing up to handle the extra demand for equipment once the new iPhone ships despite the fact that they don’t have any concrete evidence that Apple is actually including NFC in the next iPhone model.

The on-again-off-again NFC rumor for the iPhone 5 was last claiming the iPhone 6 would include the technology instead of the upcoming model. According to that rumor, Apple was holding off because NFC readers aren’t standardized, so consumers are limited to using the technology only with retailers that support their specific smartphone.

Since Apple doesn’t talk about unannounced products or rumors, this latest report from Forbes should be taken with a healthy dose of salt.