The Sony Xperia accomplished an incredible ip rating without eliminating its headphone jack.
Ok, I am against the whole jack elimination but there are alternatives to their Airpods. I just bought a nice pair of bluetooth Samsung Gear headphones for $40, and the sound quality is great. Apple should have waited a bit longer before they started the process of elimination.
The only reason I can see as logical is that the company wants more money by selling adapters