[notJim]

I agree it's a little strange, but the included cable is also the one most people won't have, and the forward-looking option. I would guess the vast majority of iPhone users have many USB A -> lightning cables, but few or no USB C -> lightning. The new cable fills a gap, in other words.

[ghaff]

There's also the whole issue of universality of USB-C chargers and the like. Do you ship a big 100W charger with an iPhone? This issue has existed previously with USB but it seems trickier at the moment. Maybe better to punt from the perspective of Apple. And at least "we're providing a charging cable from an increasingly common standard plug."

(And yeah, if I bought this phone, I'd have a couple USB-C chargers but no cable though would probably use USB-A/wireless charging anyway.)

[notJim]

I don't think the USB-C charger thing is a big issue, Apple already has several different sizes of USB-C charger. I have an iPad pro, 13" MBP and work-issued 15" MBP, and all have different sized USB C chargers. You can charge them with any of the above, but the smaller chargers can't keep up with the more demanding devices. This was already the case with the iPad vs iPhone charger, and the older magsafe chargers as well that came in different sizes.