The Apple iPhone 5 continues to be the subject of intense debate even though a release may yet be some months away. With more rumors and leaks occurring almost every day we like to bring readers all of these developments although of course nothing is yet confirmed. Today we want to talk about the possibility of NFC and a Thunderbolt connector for the iPhone 5 and ask if this could be overkill?

Many of you will have heard of Near Field Communication (NFC), a digital mobile payments system, which is being slowly brought to more and more devices, particularly those using the Android platform. It hasn’t taken off in quite the way we anticipated yet but of course if it was to come to the next iPhone this would be a huge boost and make its use far more widespread. A few days ago we looked at the idea that NFC could come to the iPhone 5 after reports that code from prototype models revealed NFC chips so it does look as though this idea could be plausible for the iPhone this time around.

The new iPhone is guaranteed to sell in huge numbers but we have spoken before about the need for Apple to bring something new and fresh to the iPhone 5. We feel that Apple really has to bring something new and groundbreaking to the table for the iPhone 5 but would NFC be enough or will people be expecting much more? Also is it possible to add too much new technology to the iPhone 5 for effect, that’s not actually needed? With that in mind we found an interesting report on Product Reviews. This looks into leaks that appear to show that a Thunderbolt connector could come to the iPhone 5 but asks if this is simply overkill.

The possibility of a Thunderbolt port-equipped iPhone 5 comes from some leaked photos that appear to show what could be a Thunderbolt connector but could possibly be a microUSB port. Nothing can be confirmed as the leaked photos cannot be authenticated but it’s intriguing nevertheless. First thoughts about Thunderbolt for the iPhone 5 may well have people salivating over the extra speed but it’s easy to assume that any new technology for the iPhone 5 would be widely welcomed. However Product Reviews points out that although this sounds great, the average iPhone user simply would not need such a huge boost in speed.

Recently we also gave news about a possible new 19-pin dock connector for the iPhone 5 while Product Reviews also talks of the possibility of Apple moving to a new common connector that could be used over a range of phones. If Apple is considering changes here, the idea that a Thunderbolt port could appear raises issues such as extra cost and power consumption. Another concern that comes to mind is whether Apple would really want to promote Thunderbolt connector use, considering its push to get users to transfer files wirelessly using iCloud? Therefore we wonder if this is a step too far at this stage and if Apple might be better concentrating on a Thunderbolt iPhone 6 or later.

We’d be interested to hear your opinion on this. Do you think an iPhone 5 with Thunderbolt connector and NFC would be a great idea, after all, the more speed and convenience the better? Alternatively you may feel that Thunderbolt for the iPhone 5 is not necessary and would simply be overkill and you would prefer a standard connector? Let us know with your comments.