I strongly disagree that reversibility is a small feature. Whenever Plugging the chargers to new iOS devices is effortless the same way as headphones jacks.
Non-symmetrical connectors are an affront to usability.
Non-symmetrical connectors are an affront to usability.
In 2074 days of owning an iPhone and 1065 days of owning an iPad I have never used or wanted an HDMI output.
I'd say they made the right tradeoff.
Who are all these people popping out of the woodwork wanting a wired connection from their phone to their TV? I'm sure some people do this sometimes, but so many? Why would you even do that? Perhaps this is uncharitable, but it makes me think that most of the people complaining here have never done it, never will, probably never even thought about doing it before, but are now outraged at the thought that the connector is not 100% perfect for this one uncommon use-case.
Edit: third use case, hooking this up to a monitor to turn your smartphone into a desktop computer.