You know what else takes up space? 2 rear cameras, the battery, and the speakers. Apple could free up space by removing the headphone jack, a rear camera, decrease battery size, or decrease speaker size. They, and many many other companies decided to remove the headphone jack, then proceed to not only NOT make the phone thinner, but also start selling wireless headphones. None of these companies did it because it's a legacy port or to free up space. None of these companies did it because they care about the user, they did it for sales and controversy.

10 times out of 10 the user is going to prefer having a choice over not having a choice. A manufacturer eliminating a choice (such as using wired or wireless headphones) is always always a selfish move. Don't defend companies like that.