"Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make[sic] them harder to hack."
Funny to see disabling "features" itself described as "feature"
Why not call it a "setting"
Most iPhone users do not change default settings. That's why Google pays Apple billions of dollars for a default setting that sends data about users to Google
"Lockdown Mode" is not a default setting
The phrase "sometimes overlooked" is an understatement. It's not a default setting and almost no one uses it
If it is true Lockdown Mode makes iPhones "harder to hack", as the journalist contends, then it is also true that Apple's default settings make iPhones "easier to hack"
The intention behind lockdown mode is protection for a select few groups of people such as journalists, that are at risk of having software like Pegasus used against them. It’s to reduce the attack surface. The average user wouldn’t want most of it as a default setting, for example: almost no message attachments allowed, no FaceTime calls from people you haven’t called and safari is kneecapped. Making this a default setting for most people is unrealistic and also probably won’t help their cybersecurity as they wouldn’t be targeted anyway.
A "reduced attack surface" can also be a reduced surface for telemetry, data collection, surveillance and advertising services, thereby directly or indirectly causing a reduction in Apple revenues
Perhaps this could be a factor in why it's not a default setting