Off the top of my head, here are some reasons people still want a headphone jack:
* Invested in quality audio equipment that they'd like like to continue using without a crappy dongle
* Bluetooth dongles don't have the same level of integration that EarPods do, for instance (e.g., button presses don't work the same way)
* Lightning or USB-C headphone adapters are easy to lose track of
* Lightning or USB-C headphone adapters are awkward sticking out of your phone and risk breaking the port
* Dislike the environmental impact of trashing perfectly fine equipment
* Dislike like the environmental impact of moving to a model of disposable equipment with non-replaceable batteries
* Tired of the inconvenience of dropping wireless ear phones and not being able to find them (e.g., this happens frequently on flights¹)
* Weary of dealing with Bluetooth issues (e.g., my AirPod Pros randomly disconnect from my iPhone with regularity and I have to click multiple things to switch from my phone to my work laptop)
It's fine if these don't apply to you, but they're a little more substantive than the Luddite hand-wringing you suggest.. And for them the trade-off to get a slightly slimmer phone wasn't worth it. That's not to say there aren't advantages to wireless headphones, but supporting one doesn't mean having to preclude the other.
another reason, namely the reason that I specifically do not use wireless headphones:
due to the nature of wireless communications, real time audio is effectively impossible and as such there is almost always some amount of noticeable latency when performing tasks that rely on real time audio (eg music production). a little of latency is okay sometimes but the amount that wireless devices introduce is typically on the offer of maybe 100-200ms and when you're trying to play a section or some such it makes it damn near impossible to hit a note on the mark you're aiming for.
Your comment is actually probably one of the most relevant ones, I was thinking who cares? You're not producing music on your phone.
On long calls, I will have delayed audio or glitches, sometimes from facetime, or the network but because of your comment I tried to use the speaker and it was better. I'll try disconnecting them occasionally thanks to your comment. Thanks!
> Invested in quality audio equipment that they'd like like to continue using without a crappy dongle
They likely can get better audio with a dongle.
All audio sources on a phone are digital. When you use headphones with a built-in jack the analog outcomes comes via a DAC and amplifier built into the phone.
When you use a Lightning or USB-C dongle the DAC and amplifier are in the dongle.
If the former case you are forever limited to the quality of the DAC and amplifier built into the phone. In the latter case there are higher end options available.
In 2024, most built-in DACs on a phone costing more than $200 new (so not picking bottom-barrel parts) is going to be of similar quality from a human-perception perspective. If anything a cheap dongle is more likely to have a PoS DAC. And even still, a lot of DACs will suffice for like an audio cast & provide a lot of convenience, but that wouldn’t prevent you from using a dongle DAC for a difference audio setting--even with the dongle’s downsides.
* Invested in quality audio equipment that they'd like like to continue using without a crappy dongle
* Dislike the environmental impact of trashing perfectly fine equipment* Dislike like the environmental impact of moving to a model of disposable equipment with non-replaceable batteries
* Tired of the inconvenience of dropping wireless ear phones and not being able to find them (e.g., this happens frequently on flights¹)
* Weary of dealing with Bluetooth issues (e.g., my AirPod Pros randomly disconnect from my iPhone with regularity and I have to click multiple things to switch from my phone to my work laptop)
It's fine if these don't apply to you, but they're a little more substantive than the Luddite hand-wringing you suggest.. And for them the trade-off to get a slightly slimmer phone wasn't worth it. That's not to say there aren't advantages to wireless headphones, but supporting one doesn't mean having to preclude the other.
¹ -- https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/16uuyse/...