A 3.5mm-wide, 1cm long plug has a far greater endurance to lever-type stress introduced e.g. by your pants or your hands when you hold the phone tilted for movie watching. A Lightning plug, in comparison, is a bit wider but only ~1mm thick and 4mm long... and thus FAR more susceptible to bending stress.
Apple only wants people to repair their iPhones more often...
A 3.5mm-wide, 1cm long plug has a far greater endurance to lever-type stress introduced e.g. by your pants or your hands when you hold the phone tilted for movie watching. A Lightning plug, in comparison, is a bit wider but only ~1mm thick and 4mm long... and thus FAR more susceptible to bending stress.
Apple only wants people to repair their iPhones more often...