I'm and Android user, my wife uses iPhone and Mac. Ive a pretty decent LG phone (the camera in particular is better than hers in low light conditions) and my phone cost about half of hers. She goes through 2-3 cables per year. I have never had to replace a cable (although I primarily use wireless charging). She is rough on the cables, as she charges on the couch with our dog and cats coming charging through. Plus, she's a little rough on things to begin with (she drops her phone while charging a lot). Still, I cannot understand buying 3 cables per year.

I do buy spares for my phone, but so I can have one for each place I spend a lot of time: bed, home office and work office. But, I only buy them once, and only when the port changes (e.g. Micro USB to Type C). Also, having now had several devices with wireless charging, doubt I'll ever buy another phone that doesnt have it.

Having my wife buy nearly $200 of apple chargers each year is certainly a tax of sorts.