[stouset]

Apple didn't continue to iterate on Lightning because of the obvious future migration to USB-C connectors.

I will die on the hill that the Lightning plug is superior to the USB-C plug. Lightning could some day have supported USB-3.2+ speeds, if they'd chosen to work further on it.

Still, I have never once transferred data to my iPhone over a USB cable. I have used an iPhone since the first generation. For me, it has only ever been a means to charge the phone and to connect it to CarPlay. With wireless CarPlay and MagSafe charging, they could remove the port and I wouldn't miss it all that much (except for fast charging).

[fingerlocks]

Agreed. I really miss lightning after getting a usb-c iPhone. The best part of lightning port was how easy it is to clean. You can get lint and sawdust out of the clogged port with a toothpick. With usb-c, I can’t find a rigid non-metallic pick small enough to clean dust out of a usb-c port.

[cmiles74]

I'm pretty sure Apple switched to USB-C to comply with EU requirements. I don't think the success of USB-C has much to do with it.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/oct/26/iphone-us...

[stouset]

You would be demonstrably wrong.

Apple was already well under way on their USB-C transition. They literally shipped the first all-USB-C laptop in 2015. Not the first Apple laptop. The first laptop full stop. The iPad Pro switched to USB-C from Lightning in 2018. Every year since, fewer and fewer devices released with Lightning and more and more with USB-C.

If you need more evidence, literally just consider that Apple never bothered to invest further in Lightning. There were no further speed bumps. No updates in the USB protocol version supported. Even charging, USB-A to Lightning has been capped at a pitiful 12W. Does this seem like the behavior of a company that wants to stay on Lightning?

The iPhone would undoubtably have been USB-C in a generation or two even without the EU’s involvement.

[cozzyd]

Does the iPhone show up as a USB media device nowadays or do they still force you to jump through hoops?

[maxwelljoslyn]

I've had tremendous trouble trying to get my iPhone SE to show up as a USB device. Never did figure it out, but the macOS app iMazing has served me well as a workaround.

[stouset]

No clue. I have never needed it nor wanted it to. All my music streams from Spotify or Apple Music.

[seam_carver]

Some iPad Pros used USB3 lightning that used pins on both side of the lightning cable.