When bouncing between Android phones and everyone is picking a different style of USB, I can see where that is a problem.
However, those using an iPhone tend to stick to iPhone and the connector has been consistent for over a decade. People have a lot of those cables from 10 years of phones. For those in the Apple ecosystem, it’s more of a standard than micro-USB ever was.
It was also created at a time when USB was a complete mess. Having reversible port was really nice, and Lightning was the only real game in town. Thus, Apple users had a better experience for a decade, because they didn’t need to follow the rest of the industry that had an annoying 1-way port (I think it also had to do with trying to deliver audio over USB to headphones, when they were getting rid of the headphone jack. I remember reading about that, but I’m no audiophile). Now they need to change at the drop of a hat because Android decided USB-C is the way? USB-C is also becoming a mess, with a bunch of “standards” all hiding behind the same port, which is going to be confusing for consumers if/when they run into it.
I want USB-C on the iPhone, just not like this. And to be honest, with MagSafe, I rarely plug my phone in these days. It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple is planning to get rid of all the ports. There have been rumors to this effect. If that was the plan, do they need to keep a port around just because the EU says so, or can they remove it, because at least they don’t have a non-USB-C port?
When bouncing between Android phones and everyone is picking a different style of USB, I can see where that is a problem.
However, those using an iPhone tend to stick to iPhone and the connector has been consistent for over a decade. People have a lot of those cables from 10 years of phones. For those in the Apple ecosystem, it’s more of a standard than micro-USB ever was.
It was also created at a time when USB was a complete mess. Having reversible port was really nice, and Lightning was the only real game in town. Thus, Apple users had a better experience for a decade, because they didn’t need to follow the rest of the industry that had an annoying 1-way port (I think it also had to do with trying to deliver audio over USB to headphones, when they were getting rid of the headphone jack. I remember reading about that, but I’m no audiophile). Now they need to change at the drop of a hat because Android decided USB-C is the way? USB-C is also becoming a mess, with a bunch of “standards” all hiding behind the same port, which is going to be confusing for consumers if/when they run into it.
I want USB-C on the iPhone, just not like this. And to be honest, with MagSafe, I rarely plug my phone in these days. It wouldn’t surprise me if Apple is planning to get rid of all the ports. There have been rumors to this effect. If that was the plan, do they need to keep a port around just because the EU says so, or can they remove it, because at least they don’t have a non-USB-C port?