And they saw it coming, so doing prep work doesn't show they wanted to change.
A big part of the reason people thought Apple would change is because everyone knew these rules were coming.
Also I don't think micro-USB ever got mandated, and 2010 was before lightning even existed.
And given the pin burnout problems I'm not even sure if micro USB is worse than lightning with USB 2.0
Apple moved their laptops to USB-C in 2015. The iPad started switching in 2018. Thunderbolt 3 & 4, created by Apple and Intel use USB-C.
And yes, the EU dictum before was a voluntary agreement, and Apple provided an adapter and then went from the bad 30-pin to the much better lightning. Which is Apple's resistance to the EU saying "this is it...the eternal connector".
2015 was eight years ago. They were actually pretty early to USB-C, setting it up in a couple years, then they waited another couple years without bringing it to iphone, then another, then another.
The evidence was that they were in no rush at all.
And thunderbolt isn't relevant when their phones are still on USB 2.
> Which is Apple's resistance to the EU saying "this is it...the eternal connector".
That is not what the law says. Stop that.
Given that Apple never included usb-c charger with their iPhone, all Apple had accomplished was creating a bunch of soon to be useless usb-c to lighting cable with this extended timeline
"At least - thanks to the EU - soon they can all share the same USB-C charger."
The EU is basically the guy that at 5am declares that the sun must soon rise or else. By the time the EU decided on their USB-C dictum, Apple -- a co-inventor and standards participant of USB-C -- had switched their laptops fully to USB-C, their desktops to USB-C, and half their pad line to USB-C, with the rest coming not long after. Most people fully expected the 14 to be USB-C just because it was starting to be silly, and by the 15 it would be ridiculous if they still had lightning.
Apple was already switching. Which is exactly why the EU could go ahead and faced little resistance. The EU deserves zero credit.
And FWIW, the EU in 2010 dictated that all smartphones use micro-USB. Apple provided an adapter as they moved their entire line to lightning, thankfully, as micro-USB was a garbage connector in every way.