Will the iPhone 5 have NFC? We will know October 4th

Will the iPhone 5 have NFC? We will know October 4th

Apple will hold a press conference / media event on October 4th to announce its iPhone 5, but will the magical device bear NFC capabilities? We may not know the answer to that question yet, but at least we now know when we will have an answer. Well, according to AllThingsD that is, and we have no reason to think they are wrong. This media event / frenzy will be the first one presented by Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, and the eyes of the world will not only be on the iPhone 5, but Cook himself will no doubt be scrutinized to see whether he can actually fill the gaping hole left by Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is a hard act to follow and we wish Tim Cook luck. He’s going to need it with the iPhone 5 launch event.

Will the iPhone have NFC, will the iPhone 5 sell like hotcakes now it is missing the Jobs factor?

The iPhone 5 has a lot to live up to this year with increased competition in every area that makes the device the run away success it has been in the past. Apple can’t afford to announce a marginal upgrade this time around. A few contributing factors escalate the need for the iPhone 5 to be special. Apple hasn’t released a new model in well over a year now, and a marginal upgrade would diminish its relevance in the marketplace. Competitors are building ever more capable devices that include NFC functionality. Google has an NFC hero NFC phone on its way that has very high specifications, plus it will come with the firm’s latest Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS. Whatever Apple has said about its intentions with NFC, the reality is within the next year the device will become a relic of a non-NFC era if it doesn’t.

That, of course, doesn’t mean that Apple will acquiesce to industry pressure by supporting NFC in the iPhone 5. But with Google Wallet out in the market and Isis coming online next year, and Microsoft setting up their NFC wallet, can Apple be so confident that it doesn’t think it should add NFC? The next iPhone represents an era where Android is the top mobile OS and not iOS. Windows 8 is set to support NFC and Intel is setting up some interesting NFC projects under the table.

By this time in the Apple iPhone 5 launch cycle we would have normally seen far more credible rumors than we have done this year. The company has tightened its secrecy up by multitudes of magnification. We still sit on the fence and think there is a 50% chance that Apple could have an NFC chip inside the iPhone 5, even if it isn’t active on launch.