The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will have built-in Thread radio.
androidauthority.com
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.
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/
So is this another zwave or zigbee alternative?
Kind of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_(network_protocol)
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.
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.
Interesting. I hope other phones start doing this too.