Near Field Communication (NFC) is one of the most essential technologies powering modern iPhones and Android devices. From authenticating payments via Apple Pay and unlocking smart locks to identifying the owners of lost AirTags, NFC runs quietly behind many everyday conveniences.
However, today’s NFC chips have a major limitation — their effective range is capped at around 5 mm. This means your phone or smartwatch must be held very close to another NFC-enabled device, such as a payment terminal or access sensor. As a result, even small misalignments can cause failed transactions or connection hiccups.
That might soon change. According to the NFC Forum, the newly announced Certification Release 15 (CR15) will extend the NFC reading range to roughly 20 mm for most devices. This update, unveiled earlier this year, promises to make contactless interactions notably easier and more reliable — particularly for payments, digital keys, and wearable integrations.
“Extending the range of NFC contactless connections was one of the key priorities outlined in the NFC Forum Five-Year Roadmap,” explained Mike McCamon, Executive Director of the NFC Forum. “CR15 will give a mark of trust to device manufacturers and relying parties that devices operating within the extended read range of 20 mm will work as expected. This will help to advance numerous emerging use cases, such as using your mobile phone as a digital car key or your smartwatch as a transport ticket.”
The NFC Forum’s membership includes major players such as Apple, Google, Huawei, and Sony, suggesting that this improved standard could reach mainstream devices relatively quickly.
One big question remains: will existing smartphones — like Apple’s recently launched iPhone 17 Pro — be able to support the new standard through software optimizations, or will the extended range require fresh hardware with improved NFC chips? We’ll likely find out soon. The NFC Forum has scheduled a webinar next week to share more about CR15 and how it will shape the next generation of contactless experiences.
