Apple was on the USB Implementers Forum that designed USB-C so.. I would say they could definitely be credited as a co-inventor of USB-C, they also introduced one of the first devices that used USB-C.
Apple doesn't get solo credit for USB-C, but they were certainly essential to it. Just compare the USB-C physical interface to the USB-3 micro or super speed type B ports and compare design sensibilities.
https://open.substack.com/pub/theelectronvault/p/apple-cinem...
USB-C can fulfill some/all of what I was using Thunderbolt 2 for with a MacBook Air and a Thunderbolt Display in 2013. Going back far enough, Apple combined video and data into the HDI 45 connector in the mid-to-late 90’s (but no one was going to use that for a laptop, even a laptop of the era). It was chunky enough even on a Power Mac 6100 and display then.
USB-C / TB is the latest example of a direction Apple has been moving in for a long time.
Even today the desktop PC market is still stuck on USB-A since they have no Apple equivalent to just get things done.
All small cameras and devices use micro SD. Professional cameras don’t use SD since forever now. Basically I always need an adapter now.