New Apple nfc door opener as seen on iPhone 12 keynote video?
NFC detection is available to app developers on iPhone for some years since iOS 11.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corenfc

I use it for hardware authorization with yubikeys and 1Password app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/1password-password-manager/id568903335
https://www.yubico.com/us/store

Apple hardware can scan for NFC and then take whatever action the developers code up for the apps.