The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feature a built-in Thread radio, which is a first for any smartphone. Here's why that matters.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will have built-in Thread radio, so they can directly communicate with smart home devices.
Old iPhones could probably be used as a smart home hub.
I think this the most interesting update of the event.
Plug in/turn on your smart device (light bulb, temperature sensor, etc)
Open a smart home app on your phone (Apple and Google both include one in the OS, or you can use third party apps)
Click “add device”
It’ll pop up a QR code scanner, scan the QR code that came with the device
Once scanned, it will do whatever is necessary to connect the device to your home network.
It’s a flexible system that can use a variety of network technologies… (wifi, ethernet, bluetooth, thread, ultra wideband, etc). It will pick the best one available. And switch technologies automatically if one of them becomes unavailable.
Thread has about the same range as wifi, but it uses a lot less power. It doesn’t really have enough bandwidth for something like a video camera, but it’s great for light bulbs, temperature sensors, etc.
For everyone else here who thought this had to do with Threads and wonder what Apple was thinking dealing with Meta like that:
Thread is a wireless smart home protocol designed to help your smart home devices talk to each other faster and more efficiently. Thread devices can connect to the internet and each other regardless of their brand and manufacturer. It is also the main infrastructure for Matter devices since it is designed with smart home meshes in mind. The more Thread-supported products you own, the stronger your smart home network becomes.
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So does that means devices or people around me would be able to use my internet quota?
I do not think so.
No it usually works like this:
Once scanned, it will do whatever is necessary to connect the device to your home network.
It’s a flexible system that can use a variety of network technologies… (wifi, ethernet, bluetooth, thread, ultra wideband, etc). It will pick the best one available. And switch technologies automatically if one of them becomes unavailable.
Thread has about the same range as wifi, but it uses a lot less power. It doesn’t really have enough bandwidth for something like a video camera, but it’s great for light bulbs, temperature sensors, etc.
So is this another zwave or zigbee alternative?
Not sure about Z-Wave, but the ZigBee Alliance promotes Thread as ZigBee’s successor. A lot of Thread devices are backwards compatible with ZigBee.
Kind of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(network_protocol)
For everyone else here who thought this had to do with Threads and wonder what Apple was thinking dealing with Meta like that:
https://xkcd.com/927/
Interesting. I hope other phones start doing this too.