westfw:
Really? I'm dreading what I expect to be MUCH more fragile cablesYou just can't jam that many wires on a fine-pitch connector and have them come out very robust. Apple Lightning connectors are bad enough, and USBC has even more wires
There are micro-usb connectors that mount in slots on a PCB... There are also micro-usb that are significantly more robust than the ones that most people have trouble with (the have TH tabs!)
I still remember the time my Arduino Leonardo clone had its surface mount microUSB jack snapped off and took the traces off with it - beyond repair.