Prototypes came up with Micro-USB and USB-C before either were released to the public, which then - in millions of tests - realized these are nimble things that

Prototypes came up with Micro-USB and USB-C before either were released to the public, which then - in millions of tests - realized these are nimble things that break easily as compared to the rather robust Lightning connector. Creating something in isolation, with virtually no chance of it becoming "allowed" by an hostile state actor is nice, expensive, and thus won't happen. If you want to figure out if an idea works, lots and lots of field tests are what you want.