I feel like this has been said of the past two iPhones & now with the iPad mini - there is no clear indication Apple is going to support NFC in the near term. Why do you feel this way?
We can see Apple typically releases any new technology a few years later. NFC came into mainstream only last year so it might take a few more years for it to be widely used for applications. Apple made a safe bet with passbook because all the store cards/tickets use similar bar codes or QR codes. A few startups have started on software/hardware lacking in Apple products but once the manufacturer integrates it into their product, they risk losing their purpose if they don't innovate. They integrated LTE after a few years it became mainstream. This will eventually happen too.
