Because my use case for headphones very frequently coincides with the times the phone is charging - I cannot both charge and use the headphones at the same time with an adapter, unless there is some weird USB-C monstrosity that would enable this(without just implementing an internal sound card connected over USB).

Gotcha. Personally I never use wired headphones while charging after reading about a woman who electrocuted herself doing that a few years ago (due to a fake power supply).

That's not really the point, is it?

The point is that the upgraded version ships with less features. I use bluetooth-headphones so I don't care, but I can easily see why this is infuriating to others.

Well now I have to carry this additional junk all time, plus this just create additional waste for no reason at all. as people will break and throw away them eventually