Actually, it is:
> The three sizes of USB connectors are the default, or standard, format intended for desktop or portable equipment, the mini intended for mobile equipment, which was deprecated when it was replaced by the thinner micro size, all of which were deprecated in USB 3.2 in favor of Type-C.
I mean... usb 4 literally doesn't define a type-a connector (or type-b). Usb3.2 is the "best" a usb-a port is ever going to deliver.
So while it may still be popular and in-use, from the view of usb as a standard, it is deprecated: it's not present in the latest version.
It’s the other way around.
USB-C sockets are much more robust than their A counterparts, since the spring is in the plug for C, as opposed to in the socket for A.
but i doubt you will get more cycles out of C in real life. that might be what the spec says but given the pitch of the pins on the C connector compared to the A, you have a world of greater tolerance to work with
> but i doubt you will get more cycles out of C in real life
You're free to doubt the designers of the USB specification and/or the manufacturer's compliance with the specification, but just logically, the part about having the springs in the plug, not the port, makes sense to me.
I've seen many broken USB-A ports in airplanes and other public charging ports with the spring connectors bent beyond recognition.