3.5 mm headphone jack is much 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝖒𝖚𝖈𝖍 more robust than USB-C port. You can slingshot your phone by the headphone cable, and both the phone and the cable will be fine.

USB-C socket gets slightly bent and you cannot charge your phone.

It's also at the bottom of the phone, so you cannot hold it normally, while the headphone jack is at the top.

That's just more shit to carry. I don't want to have pockets overflowing with dongles.

I've been using one of these USB headphone jacks... and I'd go back to the 3.5 mm audio jack in a heartbeat.

Why?

• The USB port collects a lot pocket lint (bigger port = more lint). This gets compressed/packed when you charge it (daily), or plug in the USB audio dongle. Eventually, it becomes harder to clean out - often needing tools.
• I switched to magnetic USB adaptors. This keeps the dust out, but the magnetic connectors are brittle and the pins are prone to bending/breaking. I often leave the headphone with the USB dongle + the magnetic connector in my pocket. Its an annoying large wad of crap, but now with the magnet in my pocket, it sticks to my keys, coins, etc (which probably bends more pins)

All in all, its just annoying... all because manufacturers ramrod Bluetooth down our throats, charge us more for Bluetooth headphones, force us to leave Bluetooth on 24/7 (so we can use our devices to relay everyone else's tracking pucks/tags) and the manufacturers save $0.03 on each device by not having a headphone jack.

It's just another example of forcing the customer into things they don't want (just like A.I.).

So your power/data USB C port can snap off?

How about we have the boys in engineering work up a more durable dedicated audio port for something that will be plugged in when on the go?

We can give it:

A solid, round metal plug for infinite 360-degree rotation, neutralizing cable-twist strain that would otherwise warp a rigid USB-C port.

A hollow-tunnel design with out the fragile internal circuit "tongue" found in USB-C, making it nearly impossible to snap or bend through accidental force.

And as a bonus, heavy-duty internal spring contacts that tolerate dirt and high insertion counts, and linear release mechanism so the cable will pop out cleanly during a violent tug instead of tearing up the phone’s internal electronics.

We can call this MIRACLE as the 3.5mm headphone jack. The kids will love it!

I think people who want private OSes and people who want offline storage for things have a lot of overlap

The point they are trying to make is that an ubersecure phone with GrapheneOS will have a certain target demographic.

Among that target demographic SD card slots have a demand.

I can't help it if people have not yet realized the huge cost of memory is a major factor in phone price increases, and that SD cards are a great way to have your full media library on your phone without being beholden to "the cloud".