At the Worldwide Developer Conference in June, Apple is expected to announce a change in NFC policies that will allow a number of new capabilities for the device embedded with chips, such as opening NFC-enabled doors with an iPhone.
According to the reports, Apple is to unlock the near-field communication chips put in many of the contemporary iPhones while it releases its next-generation “iOS 12” operating system. The change could also be seen in Apple Watch, which will feature ‘secure communication technology.’
Since the launch of the first NFC-enabled iPhone devices in 2014, the implementation of the company has been limited to Apple Pay transactions. The decision to such a chip design was to protect the device users from unwarranted access. With these new features, the devices will perform better, such as unlocking NFC-enabled doors, potentially transmitting’ data to transit systems, personal authentication devices, and more.
Reports claimed that Apple employees are already using the new feature to unlock doors in Apple Park. Previously it was rumored that Apple was in talks with HID to bring building access technology via NFC. It was also said that makers were discussing ways of imitating transit cards made by Cubic.
Since the adoption of the technology four years ago, Apple has been going slow with its NFC policies; however, it has made moves to expand its limited features over the past year. For example, it released a WatchOS 4 with GymKit, a technology that performs a two-way sync between an Apple Watch and a stationary workout machine.
And iOS 11 brought Core NFC, letting developers scan NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) data tags. Only a few companies have made use of the Core NFC. More information regarding the enhanced NFC policies shall be announced on June 4 along with iOS 12 at WWDC.
