You're drinking the kool aid on this one, it is about money, the whole electronics industry (and others) runs on the basis that you will replace your goods regularly. Apple has strong brand loyalty and many customers that will buy every upgrade, they are just shifting the rest of the repurchase curve up. They have never had a good reason for all their proprietary cables either, well other than gouging for them.

Oh your 2 year old laptop is broken? That's old tech anyway, you should buy a new one!