Samsung and Apple Raised Phones $100 Before Black Friday

Update, 7 October 2026. Two more makers’ rises are added: Google’s Pixel 10a, now $599 against a $499 launch price, and Samsung’s Galaxy A17 5G, A27 5G, A37 5G and A57 5G, up $30 to $70 each. Both are confirmed on the makers’ own US stores and launch releases. Every other price was re-read on 7 October and no list price had changed, but Samsung’s store was showing sales on the S26, S26+ and S26 FE, so the Samsung section now says so.

Samsung’s own store now lists the Galaxy S26, S26+ and S26 Ultra at $100 more than Samsung announced in February, and Apple’s lists the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air at $100 more than at their launch. So a $100 Black Friday discount on any of them brings the phone back to its earlier price, not below it.

How those phones score against each other in published reviews is in our phone shortlist.

Google has added $100 to the Pixel 10a, and Samsung $30 to $70 to its cheaper Galaxy A phones. Two other makers have raised prices and said why. Raspberry Pi and Nvidia both blame memory costs.

Before and now

Device	Before	Now, on the maker’s store	Change
Galaxy S26, 256GB (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab)	$899.99	$999.99	+$100
Galaxy S26+, 256GB	$1,099.99	$1,199.99	+$100
Galaxy S26 Ultra, 256GB	$1,299.99	$1,399.99	+$100
Galaxy S26 FE, 128GB (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab)	$699.99	$699.99	none
Galaxy A57 5G, 128GB	$549.99	$599.99	+$50
Galaxy A37 5G, 128GB	$449.99	$489.99	+$40
Galaxy A27 5G, 128GB	$349.99	$379.99	+$30
Galaxy A17 5G, 128GB	$199.99	$269.99	+$70
iPhone 17	$799	$899	+$100
iPhone Air (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab)	$999	$1,099	+$100
iPhone 17e	$599*	$699	+$100
iPhone 16	$699*	$799	+$100
Pixel 10a, 128GB (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab)	$499	$599	+$100
Raspberry Pi 5, 2GB	$65	$77.50	+$12.50
Raspberry Pi 4, 2GB	$55	$67.50	+$12.50
Nvidia Shield TV Pro	$199.99*	$299.00	about +$100

Current prices were read on 4 October and re-read on 7 October, when the Galaxy A and Pixel 10a rows were added. Earlier prices are from Samsung’s, Apple’s and Google’s launch releases and Raspberry Pi’s post; the three marked * are as reported by The Verge and Ars Technica. US list prices, without sales, trade-ins or carrier deals.

Samsung: every S26 except the FE

Samsung’s February release priced the S26 from $899.99, the S26+ from $1,099.99 and the Ultra from $1,299.99. Its store now asks $999.99, $1,199.99 and $1,399.99. The Ultra’s 512GB and 1TB versions are $1,599.99 and $1,999.99.

The Galaxy S26 FE did not move: still $699.99 with 128GB and $799.99 with 256GB. At 256GB, the gap between the FE and the S26 is now $200. We compared the two on paper in our Galaxy S26 FE piece, which now carries the new price.

The Verge reported the rise on 1 October. Samsung gave no reason on its store or in anything we read.

By 7 October Samsung’s store was already discounting against the new prices: the S26 at $899.99, “was: $999.99”, the S26+ at $1,049.99 against $1,199.99, and the S26 FE at $599.99 against $699.99, with no end date shown. So the S26’s sale price is its February list price. The Ultra showed no sale.

Apple: the older iPhones, on launch day for the new ones

Apple raised its older models on 9 September, the day it announced the iPhone 18 Pro, The Verge reported. Apple’s own releases from September 2025 priced the iPhone 17 from $799 and the iPhone Air from $999. Its store now starts them at $899 and $1,099.

Google and the Galaxy A series: the cheaper phones too

Google’s February post priced the Pixel 10a at $499. Its US store now lists it from $599, and on 7 October showed a $75 sale to $524, ending 11 October. Engadget reported the rise on 2 October, alongside Samsung’s.

Samsung’s own releases started the Galaxy A17 5G at $199.99, the A37 5G at $449.99, the A57 5G at $549.99 and the A27 5G at $349.99. Its store now lists them at $269.99, $489.99, $599.99 and $379.99. The A17’s $70 came in two steps, Engadget reports, the first in August. The A57 showed a $75 sale to $524.99 when we read it.

Neither Google nor Samsung gave a reason on the pages we read. At list, the $599 Pixel 10a and the $599.99 Galaxy A57 5G are now a cent apart.

Raspberry Pi and Nvidia: memory, in their words

Raspberry Pi added $12.50 to the 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5 on 1 October, after holding those two back in an earlier round in April. Its post says the cost of memory “has risen very steeply over the past two years and continues to increase”. The 1GB versions are unchanged, and Raspberry Pi suggests checking whether a cheaper board, or less memory, covers the job.

It also says it will undo the rises: memory prices “will eventually subside, and we look forward to reversing our own price increases when it does”. None of the other makers here has said that on the pages we read.

Nvidia’s store lists the Shield TV Pro at $299.00, out of stock when we read it. Nvidia told Ars Technica the new price took effect on 2 October because “the cost of components, including memory, has increased substantially across the industry”.

What it does to a Black Friday price

A discount is measured against a price, and these rises move the price. Take the Galaxy S26: $100 off $999.99 is $899.99, exactly what Samsung charged from February until the rise. That is a return to the old price, not a deal below it.

The same arithmetic holds for the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. It is also why the crossed-out figure needs checking. In November, a crossed-out $999.99 on a Galaxy S26 will be a price Samsung really charged, and the rule on former prices asks whether a price was genuine, which is a different question from whether the discount is worth having.

Three practical rules follow:

• Compare against the old price, not the crossed-out one. For the phones above, it is in the table. For other categories, we keep a baseline price for our top pick in each.
• Check the FE and older models. The Galaxy S26 FE did not rise, which makes its gap to the S26 bigger than it was in September.
• Keep the receipt either way. If a price falls soon after you buy, some retailers will refund the difference within a set window.

For telling a genuine discount from a reshuffled one in general, our deal checklist covers the rest.

Questions people ask

Did Samsung raise Galaxy S26 prices?

Yes, in the US. Samsung’s own store now starts the Galaxy S26 at $999.99, the S26+ at $1,199.99 and the S26 Ultra at $1,399.99, each $100 above the prices Samsung announced in February. The Galaxy S26 FE is unchanged at $699.99.

Did Apple raise iPhone prices in 2026?

On older models, yes. Apple’s store lists the iPhone 17 from $899 and the iPhone Air from $1,099, $100 above their 2025 launch prices. The Verge reported the iPhone 17e and iPhone 16 also went up $100, to $699 and $799, on 9 September.

Did Google raise the Pixel 10a price?

Yes, in the US. Google’s store lists the Pixel 10a from $599, against the $499 Google announced in February. On 7 October it showed a $75 sale, to $524, ending 11 October.

Did Samsung raise Galaxy A series prices?

Yes. Samsung’s US store lists the Galaxy A17 5G at $269.99, the A27 5G at $379.99, the A37 5G at $489.99 and the A57 5G at $599.99, between $30 and $70 above the prices in Samsung’s own launch releases.

Why are phones and gadgets getting more expensive?

Raspberry Pi and Nvidia have both blamed memory costs for their rises. Samsung, Apple and Google gave no reason on the pages we read, so we do not attribute theirs to anything.

Will prices go back down?

Raspberry Pi is the only maker here to say so: it expects memory prices to subside eventually and says it will reverse its rises when they do. Samsung, Apple, Google and Nvidia have said nothing about lowering prices on the pages we read.

Is $100 off a Galaxy S26 on Black Friday a real deal?

Against Samsung’s own February price, no. $100 off today’s $999.99 is $899.99, which is what Samsung charged from launch until the rise, and what its store was already showing as a sale on 7 October. A deal on the S26 starts below $899.99.

Why did the Raspberry Pi 5 go up in price?

Raspberry Pi says the cost of memory has risen very steeply and is still rising. From 1 October the 2GB Raspberry Pi 5 is $77.50 and the 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 is $67.50. The 1GB versions did not change.