In 2014 Apple said they would use the Lightning adapter for at least 10 years. Meanwhile they've adopted USB-C across their product line. Apple famously never announces future product plans but I think it's pretty easy to read the tea leaves with regards to what they were going to do.
Well, now there are no tea leaves to read. If Apple doesn't want to be transparent or work with their community, these are the kinds of laws we'll be forced to pass. They have to be responsible with their power, as the single largest private company in the world. We have to hold them accountable.
That ars article was published after the regulatory ball was rolling. The fact that iPads and Macbooks have already switched to USB-C is part of the mounting frustration surrounding Lightning - plus the fact that Lightning was redundant and licensed by Apple.
We need regulators to do this so Apple doesn't change their mind and make "Lightning 2". Even if Apple did have a full USB-C switch on their roadmap, every company in FAANG needs a healthy fear of regulators. Europe cracking down on the App Store and Apple's silly proprietary cables are the start of this, and a fantastic first turnout so far.
