I was a bit skeptical of your statement, because it FELT like they came out at the same time; but you are completely correct. The iPhone 5 with lightning was released Sep 2012, and the USB-C standard was published in Aug 2014. Almost exactly 2 years later. The first smartphone with USB-C didn’t come out until a full year later, though. So lightning was more like 3 years ahead in the phone world.
I was a bit skeptical of your statement, because it FELT like they came out at the same time; but you are completely correct. The iPhone 5 with lightning was released Sep 2012, and the USB-C standard was published in Aug 2014. Almost exactly 2 years later. The first smartphone with USB-C didn’t come out until a full year later, though. So lightning was more like 3 years ahead in the phone world.