> Counterpoint: Magsafe. They had USB-C and went back to something proprietary.
They added MagSafe and still kept USB C charging.
> So you're saying that's what they wanted to do all along, it just took them almost ten years, and it just happened to neatly coincide with the EU regulation as well?
> They had already starting to move iPads to USB C
Which they're explicitly selling as laptop alternatives, at least the Pro line.
People were already connecting all kinds of things (audio interfaces, mice, ethernet adapters etc.) to iPads using the hilariously named lignting-to-USB-host "camera adapter", and all of that is just better over USB-C.
On the iPhone, the vast majority of people only use the port for charging and maybe listening to music; the few additional iPhone sold to people that actually use them with external storage for ProRes cinematography probably pales in comparison to the lost revenue from MFI license fees.
When the camera adapter was first released, usb-c didn’t exist.
And how much do you think Apple really made on MFI licenses as a percentage of revenue? It was a rounding error and many of the knocks off people bought from Amazon weren’t even licensed.
They added MagSafe and still kept USB C charging.
> So you're saying that's what they wanted to do all along, it just took them almost ten years, and it just happened to neatly coincide with the EU regulation as well?
They had already starting to move iPads to USB C