Apple did not create the usb-c connector. At all. A team at Google in the chrome universe did. I can't remember if they were officially part of the Chromebook team, but I believe they were. Apple did not engage until well after it happened. I'm not sure why the myth persists (I believe Gruber started it) but it's totally wrong, and takes credit away from a group of people who worked very hard on it.<p>It's also easy to show it's wrong for anyone with access to the USB working group notes and meetings when it happened. Again, it's been a long time, but my recollection is that Apple didn't even attend the meeting where the connector was first submitted.<p>As far as I can discern, silence by Google was a condition of Apple adopting it, which already sucks for the people who created it, so let's not go further and totally retcon who created it.
The iPad Pros with lightning (except the 9.7") support USB 3. The connector can already do it and Apple brand USB C to Lightning cables support it if the device does, in addition to the USB 3 camera connection kit. They just haven't bothered either because they feel the space of a USB 3 controller is better served elsewhere or they just don't care. I kind of feel they'd rather people feel pressured to need a Mac with Airdrop or an iCloud subscription to get photos/videos off in timely manner.
USB-C is strange because the port that is used for charging is also used for communication and can act as a charger itself. I'm also not used to laptop chargers (MacBook and Thinkpad for example) being interchangeable. I'm always left wondering if I might fry something. I assume no, but it isn't worth experimenting with.
You know what would be sweet? If Apple used the new 2021 Magsafe connector on the iPhone. If you're going to have a proprietary connector, how about making it something that provides additional benefit.