Both Apple's 'iPhone 6' and 'iWatch' will offer NFC e-wallet payments, WSJ reaffirms

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited September 2014
Yet another publication chimed in on Thursday to say that Apple's next iPhone and its anticipated wearable "iWatch" will support near-field communications technology to enable wireless payments, while the "iWatch" is also said to sport a curved OLED display.

Touch ID


The details were shared by The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed people familiar with the unannounced devices. Both the "iWatch" and the "iPhone 6" are expected to be unveiled at an Apple media event next Tuesday.

"NFC wireless is central to Apple's plans to incorporate so-called tap-to-pay into its mobile devices, allowing users to pay for goods and services using credit cards stored with iTunes, people close to Apple said," reported Lorraine Luk, Daisuke Wakabayashi and Greg Bensinger.

Thursday's report also reaffirmed claims that the "iWatch" will come in two different sizes, and that it will sport a curved OLED display. In addition to NFC for wireless payments, the device is also expected to track and interpret health and fitness data.

iWatch
Artist's rendition of purported Apple smartwatch. | Source: Yrving Torrealba


One person familiar with the project reportedly said there is "no way" that the wearable Apple device will launch this year. Recent reports have pegged the anticipated device for an early 2015 launch.

Reports first began to surface last week that Apple may be ready to relent on its long-held resistance to NFC technology. It's expected that the forthcoming iPhone and "iWatch" will securely store users' credit card data to allow authorization of transactions at brick-and-mortar stores without the need to carry a credit card.

Following that information, John Gruber of Daring Fireball chimed in to say that Apple's "iPhone 6" and "iWatch" will feature a new secure enclave to store credit card information. He suggested that the e-wallet functionality would be restricted to new NFC-capable hardware, and would not be available on legacy devices like the iPhone 5s which lack NFC functionality.

Supposedly backing up these rumors are purported "iPhone 6" schematics and component "leaks" that suggest support for an NFC-compliant chip. No hardware leaks for the anticipated "iWatch" have surfaced yet, as the device is not believed to be in production.

And this past weekend, reports surfaced claiming that Apple has reached deals with American Express, Visa, and MasterCard for its anticipated mobile payment service, bringing the world's top credit card companies onboard for an apparently imminent launch.

All is expected to be revealed at Apple's media event next Tuesday, which kicks off at the Flint Center in Cupertino, Calif., at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern. AppleInsider will be there live, and readers can get up-to-the-minute alerts with the official AppleInsider app for iPhone and iPad.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Simply tapping your wrist to pay, and not even bothering with pulling the phone out of your pocket, would be fucking amazing. This is an application where the wearable form factor makes sense and has a distinct advantage.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post



    Simply tapping your wrist to pay, and not even bothering with pulling the phone out of your pocket, would be fucking amazing. This is an application where the wearable form factor makes sense and has a distinct advantage.

     

    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?

  • Reply 3 of 47
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    slurpy wrote: »
    Simply tapping your wrist to pay, and not even bothering with pulling the phone out of your pocket, would be fucking amazing. This is an application where the wearable form factor makes sense and has a distinct advantage.

    But all the Google fanboys tell us notifications are most important. :p I agree with you though. Tap to pay functionality would be brilliant.
  • Reply 4 of 47
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post

     

     

    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?


    Fingerprint or PIN tapped onto the surface of the watch presumably.  Although the former seems to invite a new type of strongarm robbery.

  • Reply 5 of 47
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post**

     

     

    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?




    Touch ID?

     

    What else? Touch ID is what will be used. If the iWatch is part of this, perhaps the iWatch sports Touch ID.

     

    Somehow I don't think the iWatch will have Touch ID, and you will still have to *gasp* take your phone out of your pocket.

  • Reply 6 of 47
    mjtomlin wrote: »
    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?

    Watch would communicate via Bluetooth to the phone.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    So I guess this means the iWatch will have a sapphire display, or at least part of it. For TouchID to read your fingerprint there can't be any scratches on the sensor, thus the sapphire home button on the 5s.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    Touch ID?

     

    What else? Touch ID is what will be used. If the iWatch is part of this, perhaps the iWatch sports Touch ID.

     

    Somehow I don't think the iWatch will have Touch ID, and you will still have to *gasp* take your phone out of your pocket.

     

    Sorry, but that makes no sense. If you're going to be grabbing your phone to complete the transaction the convenience of the wrist-based part evaporates.

    Oh we'll we're learn soon enough.
  • Reply 9 of 47

    BOOM! This is what I've been waiting for. Now all phones I use will have this.

  • Reply 10 of 47
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    If you need to authenticate via fingerprint on a wearables band, what's the point? Might as well pull out my phone and use that.
  • Reply 11 of 47
    malax wrote: »
    <div class="quote-container" data-huddler-embed="/t/182094/both-apples-iphone-6-and-iwatch-will-offer-nfc-e-wallet-payments-wsj-reaffirms#post_2589431" data-huddler-embed-placeholder="false"><span>Quote:</span><div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>pmz</strong> <a href="/t/182094/both-apples-iphone-6-and-iwatch-will-offer-nfc-e-wallet-payments-wsj-reaffirms#post_2589431"><img src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" class="inlineimg" alt="View Post"/></a><br/><br/><p><br>Touch ID?</p><p> </p><p>What else? Touch ID is what will be used. If the iWatch is part of this, perhaps the iWatch sports Touch ID.</p><p> </p><p>Somehow I don't think the iWatch will have Touch ID, and you will still have to *gasp* take your phone out of your pocket.</p></div></div><p> </p>

    Sorry, but that makes no sense. If you're going to be grabbing your phone to complete the transaction the convenience of the wrist-based part evaporates.

    Oh we'll we're learn soon enough.

    I don't even think Touch ID will even be necessary. Over the course of the past year, if I run a transaction as credit, I've never had to authenticate anything. Especially at a McDonalds (which there have been reports that say mcdonalds will be part of this whole thing). It's usually just swipe and go with the card. Now, it'll be swipe and go with the watch.
  • Reply 12 of 47

    Finger print DUH!

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post

     

     

    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?


  • Reply 13 of 47
    What about some type of biometric identification for authenticating transactions? Some combination of pulse, blood pressure, oxygen level, etc.

    Anyone remember any Apple patents that reference something like that?
  • Reply 14 of 47

    What about some type of biometric identification for payment authentication? Some combination of pulse, blood pressure, oxygen level, etc.

     

    Anyone remember any Apple patents that deal with something like this?

  • Reply 15 of 47
    mjtomlin wrote: »
    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?

    Touch ID on your iPhone authenticates your iWatch which can then be used for payments. If you remove the iWatch the device knows this and then prevents it from being used as such until it's authenticated to the iPhone again via Touch ID.
  • Reply 16 of 47
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rmb0037 View Post





    Watch would communicate via Bluetooth to the phone.

     

    And if someone steals both your watch and phone they will be able to make purchases? I don't think Apple will want the liability of this happening.

     

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by malax View Post

     

    Fingerprint or PIN tapped onto the surface of the watch presumably.  Although the former seems to invite a new type of strongarm robbery.


     

    Although Apple has been working on embedding fingerprint sensors into displays, I find it very hard to believe that they actually have a viable working product ready for mass production. However, being required to type your card's CCV, makes the most sense.

     

     

    Personally, I think Touch ID is key to Apple's implementation of mobile payments. If the watch can be used to make a transaction without needing to read your fingerprint each time, then there has to be a trigger that says, "Oops! You need to authenticate yourself again." Maybe if the watch is moved out of range (a predetermined distance from your phone) or if the watch can somehow tell that it was removed from your wrist?

  • Reply 17 of 47
    mjtomlin wrote: »
    And if someone steals both your watch and phone they will be able to make purchases? I don't think Apple will want the liability of this happening.

    Why do you think that will happen? Are they also stealing your fingers?
  • Reply 18 of 47
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rmb0037 View Post





    I don't even think Touch ID will even be necessary. Over the course of the past year, if I run a transaction as credit, I've never had to authenticate anything. Especially at a McDonalds (which there have been reports that say mcdonalds will be part of this whole thing). It's usually just swipe and go with the card. Now, it'll be swipe and go with the watch.

     

    Yeah, I don't think Apple would allow such a thing to take place without some form authentication, regardless of how it works now.  If this was the case, they would've added NFC capabilities years ago like most competitors. Apple has been working to make sure it is very secure and will not allow the transaction to proceed unless the device is able to verify that you are who you say you are. Can you imagine the shit-storm on the blogosphere if Apple's mobile payment system wasn't completely and absolutely secure?

  • Reply 19 of 47

    How much implementation of NFC is currently out there in retail? I assume that hardware at cash registers (grocery stores, restaurants, gas pumps, movie theaters, etc) will need to be installed.  I've never seen any so far. Are there other phones that have NFC now? I can imagine there would have to be a portable unit that a waitperson can bring to your table for payment. Hopefully Apple will produce the numbers and demand for the tech to become ubiquitous.

  • Reply 19 of 47
    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post

    How would the purchase be authorized or the user authenticated?



    TouchID on the watch?

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