Use of the NFC antenna in Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be restricted to Apple’s new “Apple Pay” mobile payments system, and will not be made available to developers.
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed this to Cult of Mac. She declined to comment on any possible future plans the company may have for the technology.
This is similar to how Apple controlled the use of the Touch ID sensor, following the sensor’s debut last year on the iPhone 5s. This year, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference that developers would be allowed to integrate the fingerprint sensor into their third-party apps. So, it is possible that Apple will allow use of the NFC antenna for third-party apps in the future.
The NFC chip found in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the Apple Watch, will allow the devices to wirelessly transmit a one-time token code to authorize credit or debit card payments.
