2 year lifespan, seriously? My phone's standard mini-USB cable is at least 5 years old by now, and shows zero signs of wear. What the hell is Apple doing to make such awful cables?
Making lots of money, that is what they're doing. They do seem to have managed to get people to believe that it is normal for a cable to fail after such a short time.
By the way, I guess that your phone's standard cable is not mini-USB but micro-USB.
I've had iPhones since 2014 and still have all chargers and cables.
I guess some people just mistreat their cables alot more.
If anything Apple has actually been the responsible one only using 2 different connectors, while the rest of the industry have been doing; mini usb, micro usb and now usb-c. And before they - with the advent of iPhone - started with usb connectors all phone manufacturers had their own proprietary connectors.
Who knows what comes along in 5 years on the usb side.
I sure hope Apple stays off USB-C on iPhones for a good while.
Edit: Correction - it's a micro-USB cable.