* It's omni-directional
* It's much stronger
* Once inserted, the cable securely engages with a mechanical latch, rather than friction
The only way in which MicroUSB is superior is in cost. A USB cable need not include any microchips, but the Lightning cable must have a chip to detect when the cable is inserted so that the pins don't short when it's outside a connector.
I have serious doubts that Apple's choice to use a proprietary connector is about profits. If that were the case, they could have saved a boat load of money developing the Lightning connector and made some slight alterations to a standard USB connector.
Having used an iPhone 5 for a few weeks now, I really appreciate the Lightning connector. The only thing I'd appreciate more is wireless charging, but that has its own set of drawbacks. Until I can have both -- wireless charging, plus an auxiliary plug-in charging port -- I'll take Lightning.
Not quite every phone. And I still catch my mother-in-law cursing under her breath while trying to mash the mini-USB connector from my tablet's power cord into her micro-USB phone with surprising regularity.
That anecdote alone makes me suspect that there's more than a touch of nerds' traditional disdain for non-nerds backing the "they should have just used USB" argument.
And follow through the update pages.
So the author's premise is that the new connector is a profit grab. What evidence supports this claim? Is there even one source from within Apple who has disclosed this? I haven't seen it.
Let's look at what we do know. The connector previously used on iOS devices was the 30-pin connector. This connector hasn't changed (on the device end) since the first iPod was introduced in 2001. That's an eleven year run on a single connector. To give some sense of perspective, the first iPods only had Firewire connectors, because USB 2.0 wasn't ratified until late 2001. The 30-pin connector is old. In technology terms, it's ancient.
So I have to ask you, does a company who changes connectors once in eleven years seem like the type of company that is motivated by short term profits? I think that's a pretty stupid assertion.
Let's also have a look at the connector. The new lightning connector is small, strong, omni-directional, and all digital (only important in contrast to the old connector). All of these are dramatic improvements. I've seen a lot of complaints that Apple didn't just use mini-USB. Guess what, mini-USB sucks. The connector is fragile and is omni-directional. It's tiny, so many people have a difficult time identifying which direction it should plug in. All USB connectors suffer from this pain, because USB is designed to be dirt cheap. Apple doesn't care about dirt cheap, they care about good design.
If you have read any background on the various connectors available on mobile phones, you'd know that the Lightning connector is one of the best designs out there.
If I had to guess (and my guess is as good as yours), I'd say that the biggest motivation for the new connector was size. The old 30-pin connector is HUGE. The female side of the plug is even larger than you're picturing in your mind. Watch the iFixit iPhone 5 teardown, then watch the iPhone 4 teardown:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+5+Teardown/10525/1
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+4+Teardown/3130/1
The internals of the Lightning connector are much, much smaller. Given Apple obsession with small/thin, this seems like the blindingly obvious motivation.
The real truth will be the test of time. If they switch connectors again in less than 5 years, I'll take apart my iPhone and eat the pieces.
