Which chipset does 802.11 and NFC? And even if there is a chipset that does both, NFC requires a flat antenna about the size of a contactless card somewhere near the surface of the phone.
There's a new chipset that does 802.11, NFC and Bluetooth. According to the date of the press release below, this chip was released sometime in June 2012, so obviously not enough time for Apple to integrate in the new iPhone.
Correct, but NXP, TI (w/ WiLink[1]), Broadcom, Qualcom, Intel,... are shipping similar products.
As someone working in the 'Internet of Things' space, I wasn't so much disappointed with the lack of NFC - as Zigbee/802.15.4. Again, thanks to integrated radios, NFC and Zigbee can be done on the same chip.
The (mass adopted) future will have to wait for another product/hype cycle.
Historically, this is not something Apple has ever done. It doesn't even make sense, since their main money maker is selling new devices - not software-activating features on older models...
While I accept the premise of your comment (that Apple won't do this), I have to note that they released a software update to enable 802.11n, costing $1.99.
A number of chipsets do 802.11ac + NFC/RFID + (wifi,etc) in the same package. I suppose we won't know until teardowns begin appearing...