DangDave

Check out this article that shall may give you a better understanding:

https://www.plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/conversational/shall-and-must/

Ming-Chi Kuo did not suggest that any iPhone 15 would have Thunderbolt. Only SS (Super Speed), which is much cheaper. (5/7)
My latest survey indicates all 2H23 new iPhones will abandon Lightning and change to USB-C, but only two high-end models (15 Pro & 15 Pro Max) will support the wired high-speed transfer, and the two standard ones (15 & 15 15 Plus) still support USB 2.0 same as Lightning. — 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) November 17, 2022

Another compromise is that the USB-C port is the slow USB 2.0 (480Mbps) and not the USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gbps) that is on the latest iPad Air.

There are some good points and some bad points in the above discussions. Apple had a pretty simple decision to make to keep the new iPad (10th Generation) as the inexpensive option. So what was more important to the most users?

1.) Having a USB-C port and providing an adaptor, with all of advantages of USB-C, or
2.) Keeping the Lightning port, just to be able to use the the 1st Generation Apple Pencil. 

Just a reminder, if you purchase a new phone, iPhone 14 or any other phone, from a major U.S. carrier on a payment plan, only Verizon will unlock their SIM/eSIMs automatically in 60 days, otherwise they are locked to your carrier until you have paid off your phone in full.