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If you use the barrel jack you now have an extra USB port you can use for stuff!

If you forget your barrel jack connector you can borrow a USB charger and it'll work!

Win-win!

Couldn't you replace it with another USB-C though? Then you'd always have an extra USB you can use for stuff!

I'm sure you could, but another USB-C port is certainly more expensive than a barrel plug. How significantly this affects the BOM I can't say, but due to the complexity of USB-C I assume it's not totally negligible.

If you want the port to handle PD, various (display) alt modes, high speed data transfer, maybe even TB, you may need a few additional controllers. OTOH having multiple USB-C ports with varying capabilities can be quite confusing.

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