* Granted, it's a problem of many if not most phones now, but arguably it was Apple who started that insane trend.
Samsung cutting off upgrades to my 1 year old phone is why I switched to iPhone. I didn't want to mess with CyanogenMod on a phone I used for work. I'd prefer a phone with software and hardware that lasts 5 years instead of a phone with software that lasts 1 year and hardware lasts 10.
I have a OnePlus6T that runs a mainline linux kernel. This will run forever.
That doesn't correlate to my experience. My iPhone 5S:
- Cannot make calls or text, because the towers that power 3G have been shut down.
- Charges perfectly fine over lightning
- Is stuck on iOS 12
- Takes pictures (we agree on this one!)
Meanwhile, it needs a new battery to have a longer lifespan. That's the only single point of failure.
I'll contrast that to the various Android devices, where the first point of failure is the USB port.
I will say, at one point I thought that the lightning port was failing. A piece of trash had gotten trapped in it. Removing the blockage fixed the problem.
When they flip to USB, they’ll use some sort of wireless solution.
You’d think Photos app (abomination) would be smart enough to get them directly wirelessly, but no you need to get them on iCloud first…
All my 2+ years old Apple cables (Lightning or USB-C) have issues with their insulation, yellowing and fraying, but their connectors are still good. So they get shrink-wrapped and off they go.
It seems it's caused by Apple using some kind of biodegradable polymer instead of the usual PVC.
There's way more usb-c cables around than lightning
For a mobile device with only a single port, I think making that port USB-C is undeniably the best move. But for a desktop or laptop with four, six, eight ports with different functionalities... That's the point of OP's post.