Don’t Expect To Use The iPhone 5 As A Credit Card, Says New Report

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500x_iphonepay

Ever since we exclusively learned that Apple was planning to use near-field communications not just to enact mobile retail payments but to enable an “>ambitious remote computing service that will allow you to literally carry around your Mac on your iPhone, we’ve been excited to see NFC hit the iPhone.

But contrary to previous reports, don’t expect it this year. Apple’s plans for NFC are too ambitious to realize before 2012, according to a new report.

The next iPhone won’t come with NFC technology, according to a Bernstein Research report.

If you think about it, this makes sense. Although the potentials of NFC are huge, Apple’s got its hands busy trying to launch their new iCloud service, which will not only take over MobileMe’s workload but also finally bring streaming iTunes to the cloud, according to rumors.

Right now, NFC technology is not particularly prevalent across the country, meaning that even if the next iPhone launched with an NFC chip, there’d be few retailers who would be able to take advantage of the technology. If Apple waits another year, not only will they be able to remain focused on NFC while producing iOS 6, but there will be better on-the-ground support for Cupertino’s leap into mobile payments… which has the potential to add between $4 and $9 billion to Apple’s coffers in new revenue, if analyst predictions are anything to go by.

[via Electronista]

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