The NFC Forum has announced NFC Release 15, which will provide four times the operating range of Near Field Communication interactions and enables faster, more seamless experiences. The NFC Forum is the global standards body responsible for Near Field Communication technology.
“NFC Release 15 will extend the range – also known as the operating volume – of NFC contactless interactions. This innovation means that connections will start sooner and require less precise device alignment, making NFC quicker, more reliable and easier to use than ever. Contactless connections will be more seamless, while retaining the critical need for user intent.”
NFC Release 15 increases the maximum operating range of NFC contactless connections from 0.5 centimeters to 2 centimeters.
NFC Release 15 also increases reliability and speed. The release improves performance for smaller devices such as wearables, which contain smaller antennas. Support for devices like iPhones acting as NFC readers, such as during Tap to Pay on iPhone, will now support wider and more stable connection volumes.
The release also optimizes multi-purpose tap, such as when multiple actions are triggered, such as paying and scanning a loyalty card at the same time.
The new standard also provides support for the NFC Digital Product Passport Standard. The standard gives brand and product teams a flexible, data agnostic framework to allow a single NFC tag embedded in a product to store and transmit both standard and extended DPP data using common NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) records. NFC Release 15 will therefore help to ensure reliability, interoperability, and compatibility across all NFC devices used for the DPP, throughout a product’s entire lifecycle.
The NFC Forum is run by eight Board-level Principal Members of the NFC Forum, including Apple, Google, Sony, and NXP. Apple’s iPhone and Apple Watch both include NFC in their feature set, so the new NFC Release 15 should provide improved performance and reliability on those device in the future.
NFC Forum Associate, Principal, and Sponsor-level member companies can download the Technical Specifications included in NFC Release 15 today. Adopter-level members and the public can access and begin certifying compliance to NFC Release 15 from Fall 2025.
