EADINT - Apple helped pioneer USB-C along with Intel, MS, Google, Dell, Samsung, and about 700 other companies (USB Standard). I wonder if the industry would have adapted it faster if one of the major companies (Apple) would have put it in their phones/tablets instead of just creating another cable? The specs of lightning cable are actually not available from Apple, as they are proprietary, however 3rd parties have been able to divulge most of the information. Lightning cables have only been shown to handle up to 12W of power, USB-C can handle up to 100W (20V/5A charge speed), which makes charging a laptop available as opposed to even considering doing that with the lightning cable. USB-C is also superior in data transmission with 10Gbps vs 480Mbps (lightning cable).
MFi was definitely not a means to attempt quality control, it was blatantly a way to force purchasing through their own ecosystem, if they were truly worried about quality they would have added cable strain relief (cable gland) at the connection point like every other cable....ever....since the 50's, but they were more worried about aesthetics than function.