@andrewt USB-C was not even designed when they release their lightning connector though. Wikipedia says that the design of USB-C started in 2012 and Lightning was introduced on September 2012.
They knew they had to switch, nothing was available, so they made their own. Agreed though that it’s not their kind to give away their design and open it to the world.
@alyx I mean apple definitely knew something was on the horizon, though, right? They're in there usb forum and these bodies never do anything fast
And anyway, what do you mean "nothing was available"? Every other smartphone on the market was using micro-usb, and it was working just great. For sure, lightning's physical connector is nicer than micro-usb, but nice enough to warrant 12 years of having two competing form factors for basically the same thing? Nah