I’m confused what’s in the new phones that make them cost $1700 more…
Nothing. Like obviously they may be using higher quality/more expensive/licensed components and are superior in some areas, but in terms of actually getting what you paid for the really expensive ones are not value for money in the slightest. These manufacturers are 100% taking advantage of consumers when they price their phones so high. There are some examples like Fairphone where you can see how the cost has been inflated (smaller company, more expensive supply chain, paying workers a higher wage, etc) but in the case of a massive company like Samsung the markup will be insanely high.