You're getting downvoted (I guess because of the all caps and self proclaimed very good reasons?) but you are absolutely correct. Headphone jack + ergonomics + modern processor + price were the key selling points for me on the previous iteration.
I understand that argument, and it's seductive, and in many cases probably true. But it's advertised as a 2-3x productivity gain and that is simply not the case.
1) Each platform still requires a good amount of special attention.
2) The React Native project introduces breaking changes far more frequently than the underlying platforms
3) Being an abstraction layer, eventually something will break, and you’ll still need someone who understands cryptic linker errors and platform specific quirks.
There are cases where it definitely makes sense, but the hidden costs need to be accounted for.