Doubt there is any conspiracy. Headphone jack was probably removed to cut cost since wireless earbuds were becoming popular and majority of users did not mind. It annoyed me at first as well, but once I went with BT earbuds and headset, I cannot imagine going back to wired except when stationary on PC. Battery life is 30 or so hours and I do not thing I have ever had problems with connection.
Only thing that worries me is that your earbuds probably are an e-waste once battery no longer can hold a charge. That said my current earbuds are basically destroyed even though their battery still is fine.
There are phones with jack that are IP68. Here are phones with this setup that are from 2022 or newer.