The frame
property is readonly, as you can see in SKNode.h
@property (SK_NONATOMIC_IOSONLY, readonly) CGRect frame;
I suggest you to read a bit more of the SKNode
documentation: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/SpriteKit/Reference/SKNode_Ref/Reference/Reference.html
In the document you will find this paragraph:
The frame property provides the bounding rectangle for a node’s visual content, modified
by the scale and rotation properties. The frame is non-empty if the node’s class draws
content. Each node subclass determines the size of this content differently. In some
subclasses, the size of the node’s content is declared explicitly, such as in the
SKSpriteNode class. In other subclasses, the content size is calculated implicitly by the
class using other object properties. For example, a SKLabelNode object determines its
content size using the label’s message text and font characteristics.
So frame
is computed by SKNode subclasses based on different properties