iPhone 5: NFC Mac data sharing incoming?

iPhone 5 chatter is becoming more and more frequent. The latest exciting and possibly baseless iPhone 5 rumour is that the iPhone 4 follow-up will come packing NFC to allow it to quickly share data with a Macbook or iMac and potentially with the iPad. The tech would also turn the iPhone 5 into a electronic wallet and passkey. We’ve seen patents with the iPhone as ticket and oodles of Apple NFC patents as well as Apple hiring experts in the field but does that add up to anything?

NFC is big in the Far East and Apple has been filing a tidal-wave of NFC patents in the past couple of years. The latest rumour suggests the current iPhone 5 concept has NFC packet in, will work as an e-wallet and for remote computing. The last feature would allow iPhone 5 users to quickly fling data and setting between other devices like an iMac and a Macbook.

Using NFC could also potentially be a good extra way of syncing files to your iPhone without having to hook it up with a cable. The trouble is NFC is quite slow. The latest scenario paints a picture of the iPhone 5 grabbing data from your Mac and allowing you to access the information you have on your home computer on the move.

The rumoured scheme would allow you to wave an NFC-packing iPhone 5 at a NFC Mac that wasn’t your and remotely access your apps, settings and data, using the machine as if it was your own. Cult of Mac’s anonymous source says: “It would turn any Apple computer into your own – same settings, look, bookmarks, preferences. It would all be invisible. Your iPhone would be all you needed to unlock your Mac.”

The idea is that when you slope away from the machine with your iPhone 5 in hand, the comms link between it and the Mac will be severed and it’ll go back to its previous state. All your messages and passwords would remain on your iPhone 5 rather than on the host computer. The whole scheme sounds a little far fetched but could tie in with as-yet-unannounced cloud smarts of the major Mac OS X Lion.

Let us know what you think: should iPhone 5 become the NFC remote to give you control of any old Mac you see? Or is this rumour just a case of Apple madness mistaking NFC research for real product plans?

Out TBC | £TBC | Apple (via Cult of Mac)

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