Apple's Lightning connector was initially an improvement on microUSB being kinda a not great connector/port. I can't remember if it also ran at a faster data rate than USB2 or if I'm just mixing up my history with FireWire.

But once USB-C became ubiquitous, Apple's continued insistence on the Lightning connector was more because being different became a social pressure to switch to and remain in the iOS ecosystem, plus they collect royalties on every lightning connector cable/device sold