From what I'm guessing, a lot of the problems can stem from either parts that don't meet the spec because it saves some money, or sloppy QC on the solder joints. Unless I'm missing something, USB-C doesn't inherently solve problems of manufacturers picking out of specification parts or bad QC.
> Maybe? The USB specifications calls for USB Micro-B to have the same 10,000 connect/disconnect cycles as USB-C
Micro USB was such a dumpster fire. I never got within two orders of magnitude of that spec, I'm pretty sure. It's a terrible connector, easily broken.
Mini USB was terrible, and would typically fail well below 1,000 on the device side. Mobile phones might not make it through their first year with a mini usb port back in the day, depending on how many times a day someone attached it to a charger.
It was replaced with Micro USB and effectively removed from USB - but a lot of devices still shipped it because it was cheaper.
The main thing USB-C and Lightning have going for them, which Micro-B doesn't, is the redundancy of two connection pads.
I've had more than one female Lightning port start to get tetchy about which direction a cable goes in.
All I'll miss from Lightning is being able to clean the port with a toothpick. Then again, that's not a small thing. When I hear/feel a bit of grit in a USB-C port I get a sinking feeling, with Lightning I just reach for a dental pick.
You can clean out a USB-C with a toothpick too, I did mine a few months ago when the connections got flakey and I got a ton of fluff out and now cables click in (which I forgot was supposed to happen).
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Table 3-1 USB Electrical, Mechanical and Environmental Compliance Standards
Performance Requirement
1500 cycles
5000 cycles for Mini “B”
10,000 cycles for Micro series
10,000 cycles for ruggedized Standard “A”
Cycle rate of 500 cycles per hour if done automatically and 200 if manual cycle
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https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/CabConn20.pdf
From what I'm guessing, a lot of the problems can stem from either parts that don't meet the spec because it saves some money, or sloppy QC on the solder joints. Unless I'm missing something, USB-C doesn't inherently solve problems of manufacturers picking out of specification parts or bad QC.