Broader view showing likely NFC chip location boxed in red: 4.7-inch iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, 5.5-inch iPhone 6 (left to right)
The location on the board is a square patch that does not correspond to any component from the iPhone 5s logic board, indicating that it may indeed be for a new component such as an NFC chip. Existing components may of course see changes in shape between generations, but many of the current major components can be mapped reasonably well to locations on the iPhone 6 logic boards, leaving relatively few candidates for this new square patch.
Rumors of NFC for the iPhone have circulated for years, but they have yet to come to fruition. As a result, this year's crop of NFC rumors has understandably been greeted with skepticism, although the volume and specificity of the rumors has seemed greater this time around, with multiple sources pointing toward an NXP chip solution for the iPhone. And with Apple rumored to be making a push into mobile payments as soon as later this year, the time may finally be right for Apple to bring NFC to the iPhone.