A Japanese reader gently pointed out my sloppy use of NFC-F, Type F and FeliCa. To experts in Japan they mean different things: A full-blown FeliCa chip with secure element, or just the NFC-F portion of FeliCa technology. Rest assured that whatever my sloppy writing says I always mean the same thing: the NFC-F interface portion of FeliCa.
Now that NFC A-B-F is just one simple Global Certification Forum (GCF) requirement for global NFC device certification, Apple doesn’t bother mentioning global FeliCa at all except in the iPhone 8, iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 3 Japanese page tech specs.
Instead Apple simply lists all iPhone 8/X and Watch 3 devices for Apple Pay Japan support and Suica support on the Apple Pay USA setup page.
I think this is the right approach. Using the FeliCa name in Japan makes sense because it has lots of brand marketing value behind it. For the rest of the world nobody cares about FeliCa, they just want Apple Pay to work wherever they go.
With iPhone 8, iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 3, it does now.
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