Regardless of this particular issue, can anybody explain Apple's stance on this? Why are they forbidding Lightning connectors on products alongside other types of connectors?
Although the simple explanation is "Apple is greedy and wants to milk their users with overpriced charging cords" I think the real explanation is more complex.
Apple wants to control every aspect of how its users experience the products that they think of as "Apple". When Apple sells a charger and charging cord, they want it to be a charging experience worthy of the Apple name. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this is how they think.
Every consumer eventually ends up with a big tangle of chargers and adapters. The kind of thing where you unplug it and tug on the cord and the FCC-mandated RF balun is a big lump and the cord gets stuck and you have to crawl under your desk to retrieve it. Most of us live with that kind of thing every day and most normal people hate it.
In short, Apple wants its users to experience its products as a refreshingly simple and clean salvation from modern electronic hell. The existence of a single cable that mixes the new connector with the old connector is seen to tarnish that user experience.
All the other things except iPhones almost universally charge via MicroUSB now. It's hard to end upwith a "big tangle of chargers and adapters" when all you need is a MicroUSB cable.
I'm not defending Apple's position here, just trying to imagine how they think.
I love MicroUSB. (In fact, I got a tip that Santa Claus will be bringing everyone in my family MicroUSB cables for Christmas! Shh!) But somehow I still have a big tangle of cables (USB and others) on my desk. Admittedly, none of them are Apple.
Although the simple explanation is "Apple is greedy and wants to milk their users with overpriced charging cords" I think the real explanation is more complex.
Occam's razor says that everything you wrote after this paragraph is wrong.
To stop people damaging their phone. I bought one of those iPhone 5 docks off eBay and threw it away immediately after it started to scratch the pins on the phone.
