Apple Watch and iPhone to Read our NFC Tags and Cards

The iPhone addition that we've all been wishing for - but we didn't think it would ever happen!

At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on 5 June, Apple announced the addition of Core NFC, alongside the launch of iOS 11. The launch is expected with iOS 11, this autumn ('in the fall').

Apple stated that "Core NFC will allow iPhones to detect NFC tags and read messages that contain NDEF data. The added Core NFC, a new framework for reading Near Field Communications (NFC) tags and data in NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF)."

What does it mean?

Apple is finally opening up the iPhone NFC chip functionality with NFC Reader Mode. This change is set to open the doors to new NFC applications that have, so far, been available for Android phone users only.

How will it work?

iPhones will be able to read data from NFC tag that can be encoded with your information (such as business cards details, a special targeted message or WiFi codes) or provide a link to a website or specific pages. You won't need to use QR codes anymore but simply utilise the NFC technology for all users and smart actives. Opening doors to a wider reach of NFC plastic cards, NFC tags and even NFC wristbands.

Will NFC function be added to all iPhones?

At the moment, Apple is talking about the iOS 11 release that will support iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The functionality is to be added to Apple Watch as well, for watchOS 4 release.