https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/13/17852184/iphone-xs-headphone-jack-adapter-apple-event-2018

Apple’s iPhone launch event yesterday was so full of good news that the company apparently couldn’t find the time to disclose a couple of less happy developments in its product range. Firstly, the three-year-old iPhone 6S and two-year-old iPhone SE models are being discontinued, which is significant because they were the last remaining iPhones with headphone jacks that Apple was selling. Secondly and relatedly, the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that Apple used to ship in the box with its iPhones is now gone.

Whether you’re buying an iPhone XS, XR, 8, or 7, from today you will no longer have a direct way to connect your wired headphones to your shiny new device. The dongle that previously came free in the box is now only available as an additional $9 purchase. That means you can spend as much as $1,449 (on an iPhone XS Max with 512GB of storage) and then still need to hand Apple more money to keep compatibility with your existing headphones. And this is just one of an increasing number of upsells that risk upsetting the goodwill of the company’s most loyal customers.