iPhone 5 Revealed Without NFC Or Wireless Charging - What Happened?

This week we're taking a look at the iPhone 5 as it was revealed by Apple in all its glory alongside iOS 6 and a set of hardware innovations like the Lightning connector – but what happened to NFC and wireless charging? We'd heard several times in tips and "leaks" that an NFC sensor was in the plans for this device for some time – but inside the last few weeks of this unofficial stream of shady bits, it was all but confirmed that, given the size of the device, NFC was not physically possible. Wireless charging, on a similar note, was never officially spoken about by Apple, and though Apple's competitors – such as Nokia, for example – are working with the technology soon, Apple has simply opted out.

If you take a peek at the new Nokia lineup – including our hands-on with wireless charging – you'll find that the new Lumia smartphones certainly are not thin. Not nearly as thin as the iPhone 5 is, anyway. There will certainly be a massive amount of 3rd party accessory manufacturers clamoring to create so-called wireless solutions soon, of course, as the iPhones before today have been working with for some time. The iPhone 5 on its own will be relying on the new Lightning port and cord – and we've yet to see how much faster or more efficiently that piece of equipment works.

NFC on the other hand is a technology that Apple does not appear to want to work with at all. They've not included it in any iPad device thus far, nor have any of the iPods in their collection – including those today – been working with an NFC sensor. Instead Apple appears content to work with businesses not through wireless payments as such, but with scannable coupons and cards with its own Passbook. Check our pre-event software rundown for more information on Passbook and prepare yourselves for more information on the software in its final form soon!

Also have a peek at the timeline of events from earlier today below to catch up entirely on the iPhone 5 and all its many details as it heads to the market for pre-order this Friday!