Earlier quoted context omitted.
With fast charging, removable batteries aren't that important now. IR blaster is too niche. SD card, headphone jack are still available in lot of phones, but again aren't deciding factor for most people. IPhone is an aspirational brand with awesome marketing, so things like notch which don't make much sense are copied by everyone.
>removable batteries aren't that important now If you like throwing out your phones every two to three years, then sure.
Besides, getting a battery replacement for an iPhone costs sub 80 bucks, which is probably about the same as we would have had to pay for batteries for the older models - and they were more likely to break because you can't get waterproof phones with replaceable batteries.