Flagship smartphones are getting more expensive

The most cutting-edge flagship phones from manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, and Google have been increasing in price over the years with no signs of slowing down, according to The Verge. Apple's iPhone X, released with an incredible $999 price tag, was a full 30 percent higher than the starting price of the iPhone 7 Plus of the previous year. Samsung, meanwhile, boosted the cost from the Note 7 to the Note 8 by 10 percent from $849 to $930. To make matters worse, most phone updates these days bring only incremental upgrades to the technology and are now mainly focused on screen improvements and new, sometimes novelty, features.