Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 5 is getting a lot of flak for being iterative, predictable and even disappointing to some. Everywhere we turn, we keep hearing the same story: Why doesn’t the iPhone 5 have a bigger screen, a larger battery, a higher megapixel camera and Near Field Communication (NFC)? AllThingsD caught up with Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, to get to the bottom of the so-called “missing features.”
On why the iPhone 5 doesn’t have NFC, Schiller told AllThingsD, “It’s not clear that NFC is the solution to any current problem” and “Passbook does the kinds of things customers need today.” Schiller has every right to call NFC a nascent feature that has yet to have a ubiquitous presence — just ask Google (GOOG) how its Google Wallet program is doing. (Hint: Not as well as Google had hoped.)
As for why Apple isn’t pursuing wireless charging the way Nokia (NOK) is with its Lumia 820 and 920 smartphones, Schiller said that wireless charging pads still need to be plugged into a wall and offer no real convenience over attaching a standard charging cable.
