Disagree that it's about the relative pennies they make on cables. I think they were caught off guard by the enormous negative public reaction to Apple switchin

Disagree that it's about the relative pennies they make on cables. I think they were caught off guard by the enormous negative public reaction to Apple switching from 30-pin to Lightning. They knew they had to abandon the 30-pin prior to 2010, and the Lightning spec didn't materialize magically, years of design went into it. USB 3.1 and the associated USB-C wasn't even on Apple's radar when they started designing Lightning. I'm completely convinced that Apple would've liked to move to wireless charging before entertaining the idea that the port on the iPhone should switch to USB-C. Unfortunately wireless charging tech hasn't been up to their standards, and we've seen Apple back itself into similar corners with other computers/devices, where they miscalculated future performance. The fact of the matter is that families tend to have more than one iPhone, with cables that are shared, and iPhones get passed around as they age. I can't imagine how many articles will be written by the tech media and how many angry commenters on Facebook will be crying about perceived forced obsolecense if Apple were to switch USB-C. The money they make on Lightning cables simply does not matter.