Article for context:https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23870522/iphone-15-pro-max-thread-smartphones (Ik that I am talking about multiple companies when I refer to android companies but many singular companies make more innovations in the phone space compared to apple)
Yeah it is a wierd flex I've been trying to wrap my head around.
I'm kind of wondering if this move is just a data grab. Matter gives controllers a lot of insight into how smart products are used. Only iPhone in the house is for your teen so they don't have that "dreaded" green text? As soon as you let them on your Matter network as a controller they now know when you turn your lights on and off, lock your doors, etc.
Thing is, this doesn't (or at least shouldn't) require a Thread radio. A controller on the phone can still get this info so long as one border router exists in the Thread PAN on the same network as the phone.
Everything is encrypted in Matter so you would have to be a controller to get any good data. With that, I doubt its just for passively farming packets over the air.
I guess it could be used to control devices remotely during a network outage if one person with an iPhone is home since its a local only protocol.
The radios are cheap enough that I guess they could be just throwing it in there without a great use case to generate buzz. Cost of radios is a drop in the bucket for most marketing budgets.
Head scratcher for sure.