[simondotau]

Perhaps it was EU regulation, or perhaps it was Apple wanting to make good on a ten-year-old promise of connector continuity. When Apple introduced the Lightning connector in 2012, they described it as their iPhone connector "for the next decade".[0] Their switch from Lightning to USB-C on the iPhone came just over ten years after that.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82dwZYw2M00&t=1571s

[MBCook]

Boy did they ever get hell when they left the 30-pin connector. I could easily see them wanting to avoid that whole mess again.

Honestly I am still blown away that the switch last year to USB-C was met with some positivity (often from tech people) and a bunch of ’meh’. I was expecting tons of screaming and “Apple’s making you buy all your cables again to juice their books!”