There has been much speculation in the last few months on what the next iPhone will feature, with the processor and screen size featuring in a lot of rumours, and in the meantime it seems we will see a NFC based iPhone 5 if recent Apple patents are to go by.

A new gifting patent filing hints that the iPhone 5 will feature NFC connectivity and as Computerworld are reporting via Patently Apple, the new patent would allow for the gifting of media purchased via iTunes from one user to another. The patent also offers solutions to allow users to share iTunes Playlists at a cost, and also reveals how the gifted album or track are passed on by just waving the iPhone near theirs, and it also relates to other forms of media content.

The patent filing describes yet another use for NFC connectivity and the original filing was made back in 2008 and is not the first NFC based patent the company has filed. With the other patents that Apple has filed means the company is looking to offer a number of NFC services once support is offered in its iOS devices.

There have been a number of whispers from within the NFC industry suggesting Apple will finally offer NFC support within the iPhone, and it is hoped the company will support both the European and US implementations of the technology.

Support for NFC in a quad core iPhone makes sense as a number of other organisations are gearing up to embrace NFC technology, which includes other hardware manufacturers such as Samsung and Microsoft.

Apple has a number of NFC patents including the likes of boarding passes and air travel, and are examples of broadening NFC technology into everyday life, and the company has a long history of taking up and coming technologies to the mass market.

While there are already NFC devices available the public awareness of the technology is only just impacting beyond tech fans, so the time is right for a device to bring NFC to the larger market, and this could be done with the iPhone 5.

Do you want to see NFC connectivity in the iPhone 5?