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Tariffs Have Consumers on Edge: Here’s What I Found Watching 11 Key Products for Price Hikes

There’s a lot of bad vibes going around the economy amid Trump’s tariff plans, so I’ve been digging into how prices are actually reacting.

For CNET’s tariff price tracker, I’ve been keeping tabs on several key products we suspect will be vulnerable to President Donald Trump’s contentious tariff policies, watching their price moves every day for possible long-term price hikes. For the most part, prices for these items have remained steady in the last few weeks, aside from notable increases for the Xbox Series X and a budget-friendly 4K TV. A few have also gone on sale for brief periods, but as of now, they’ve all mostly reverted back to normal — though you should expect the sale prices to return as Prime Day approaches in July.

With all that said, the broader impact of these import taxes is still on the horizon, especially as Trump now claims that tariff rates against China are going back up to 55% soon. The Trump administration has also been working to undo a trade court ruling, which found that Trump has no authority to set tariffs as he has been — a move now being argued before an appeals court. We’ll see how that ultimately plays out, but for now, the possibility that the president’s tariff policies will lead to price hikes remains likely. That’s why I’m continuing to monitor several key products you might want or need to buy soon, to keep track of the potential tariff impacts.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 products included in this piece over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked. 

For now, the average price for all of the products we’re covering is down noticeably compared to May, although this might be a result of the various sales going around to kick off the summer. You can probably expect that trend to continue into next month when Amazon holds its Prime Day sale, which I anticipate will be a good time to make a lot of purchases before tariff impacts really start to take hold.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. 

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree. 

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product, and stick around till the end for a rundown of some other products worth noting.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you’ll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you’ll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830.

Apple’s been taking a few steps to protect its prices in the face of these tariffs, flying in bulk shipments of product before they took effect and planning to move production for the US market from China to India. A new Reuters report found that a staggering 97% of iPhones imported from the latter country, March through May, were bound for the US. This latter move drew the anger of Trump again, threatening the company with a 25% tariff if they didn’t move production to the US, an idea CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly shot down in the past. This came after Trump gave a tariff exemption to electronic devices including smartphones, so the future of that move seems in doubt now.

Apple’s flagship device is still the top-selling smartphone globally, as of Q1 of this year, although new research from the firm Counterpoint suggests that tariff uncertainty will cause the brand’s growth to stall a bit throughout the rest of 2025.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. This model was most recently listed on Amazon at $400, the same price it’s hovered around for most of the year so far, but it has also recently ticked up price around $30, but only briefly. 

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. For most of the year, they’ve hovered around $199, which is a notable savings on its list price of $249.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. 

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. 

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.» 

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

Other products

As mentioned before, we occasionally swap out products with different ones that undergo notable price shifts. Here are some things no longer featured above, but that we’re still keeping an eye on:

  • Nintendo Switch: The baseline handheld-console hybrid has held steady around $299 most places — including Amazon — since it released in 2017. Whether or not that price will be impacted by tariffs or the impending release of the Switch 2 remains to be seen. This product was replaced above with the Xbox Series X.
  • Overture PLA 3D printer filament: This is a popular choice on Amazon for the material needed to run 3D printers. It has held steady around $15 on Amazon all year. This product was replaced above by the HP 962 printer ink.

Here are some products we also wanted to single out that haven’t been featured with a graph yet:

  • Razer Blade 18 (2025), 5070 Ti edition: The latest revision of Razer’s largest gaming laptop saw a $300 price bump recently, with the base model featured an RTX 5070 Ti graphics card now priced at $3,500 ahead of launch, compared to the $3,200 price announced in February. While Razer has stayed mum about the reasoning, it did previously suspend direct sales to the US as Trump’s tariff plans were ramping up in April.
  • Asus ROG Ally X: The premium version of Asus’s Steam Deck competitor handheld gaming PC recently saw a price hike from $799 to $899, coinciding with the announcement of the company’s upcoming Xbox-branded Ally handhelds.
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Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 11 #738

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 11, No. 738.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle could be tough. If you watch a lot of Game of Thrones-type shows, or play D&D, the answers might come easily for you. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Survival mode

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Needed skills.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

  • GIFT, LIFT, LITE, LITER, LIFTER, MITE, MITER, RIDE, RIDES, SIDE, SIDES

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

  • ARMOR, AGILITY, MIMICRY, CAMOUFLAGE, DISTRACTION

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is DEFENSES. To find it, start with the D that’s the farthest left letter on the top row, and wind down.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.

#1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT. 

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

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Technologies

Is Orange Already Out? Pink Is In, and I Found a Way to Get Both on My iPhone 17 Pro

It’s confirmed: These household chemicals can turn your iPhone 17 Pro from orange to pink

Last year, a Reddit thread emerged suggesting that the iPhone 17 Pro’s vibrant cosmic orange color could somehow turn bright pink and it turns out it’s absolutely true. In a previous version of this article I tested the Redditor’s claims by attacking my phone with various chemicals and at the time I didn’t notice much difference, but a couple of months on, things have changed. And when I put my phone against a fresh iPhone 17 Pro Max at MWC 2026, the difference was clear: mine was now bright pink. Here’s what happened and what you can do to protect yours. 

As PCMag’s Eric Zeman noted, discoloration can be caused by cleaning substances that affect a phone’s finish, with oxidation being to blame for the color shift from cosmic orange to hot pink. Sure, this might technically be a fault, but in all honesty I love pink phones (remember the pink Moto Razr V3?) and the idea of a hot pink iPhone 17 Pro filled me with joy. So I tested the theory with various cleaning fluids.

It’s important to note here that the iPhone 17 Pro I used was bought by CNET for the purposes of testing. Had I paid over $1,000 of my own money, I would never be so reckless in smearing it with chemicals that could potentially do it irreparable harm. And you shouldn’t either. If you need to clean your phone, do it safely. Disclaimer aside, let’s dive in.

The chemicals

I first bought two chemicals to test this out. Zeman explains that oxidation may have caused the color to change and that hydrogen peroxide could do this. I couldn’t find this over the counter in the UK at the time (but more on this later), so I instead bought an «oxy-active» stain remover spray that, among other things, contains «oxygen-based bleaching agents» which sounded ideal. Apple clearly states, «don’t use products containing bleach or hydrogen peroxide» on its support page — so, naturally, I bought some thick bleach too.

Oxy application

I started by spraying the oxy cleaner on a microfiber cloth until it was noticeably wet from the liquid. I then liberally applied it all over the rear of the iPhone. The Reddit user with the affected phone showed that it only affected the metal parts, not the glass back panel, so I made sure to focus my attention on the sides and camera bar. 

With the phone well and truly doused in chemicals that have no business being anywhere near a phone, I left it to sit and think about what it had done for 30 minutes — after which time I wiped it dry and took a close inspection. Disappointingly, my phone was still factory orange, rather than «what the hell have you done to your phone» pink. Time to move on.

Bleach blast

I opened the bleach and, trying hard not to think about my days as a middle-school cleaner, applied a liberal blob of the stuff to a cloth. Again I smeared it over the defenceless phone, concentrating again on the metal areas. I definitely should have worn protective gloves for all of this, so please make sure you take better care of yourself than I do if you do anything with bleach. 

Again, I gave it a 30-minute settling-in period before cleaning it off and inspecting the results. The phone remained as orange as ever, looking as box fresh as it was the day before when it was, indeed, box fresh. 

Hydrogen Peroxide FTW

While I couldn’t find hydrogen peroxide in shops in the UK, it was readily available on Amazon. I bought a bottle and, using a piece of kitchen towel, rubbed some liberally around the phone’s metal parts. I did this a few times, leaving it to air dry between applications. I was disappointed at first that I didn’t literally see the orange transform into hot pink, but over time I did notice that, in the right light, there was a more pinkish hue going on. 

But it felt subtle and in some lighting it just looked as orange as ever. But a few weeks later, during Mobile World Congress 2026, I compared the phone with Patrick Holland’s cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro Max and that’s when the difference became wildly apparent. Mine wasn’t just a slight shift to pink, it looked like I’d bought a completely different color variant. All the metal surfaces looked vibrantly pink against the orange of Patrick’s model, with only the glass parts — and the non-metallic slits of the antennas — remaining orange.

Is the pink iPhone 17 real?

My first version of this article had to conclude that maybe that vibrant pink iPhone seen on Reddit wasn’t the real deal. Or that something had gone wrong within Apple’s manufacturing and that customer had simply bought a fault model. But finally seeing my chemically-treated phone against a fresh Cosmic Orange model really showed me what can happen to a phone if not looked after properly. 

So yes, it’s absolutely possible for an iPhone 17 Pro to turn from orange to pink. But the reality is that this isn’t going to be an issue for the vast majority of owners, and I don’t believe this can be considered any kind of fault on Apple’s side. Apple’s guidance is very clear that strong chemicals should not be used on its phones and frankly, I don’t think that’s even guidance that needs to be given. What I did — entirely on purpose — was to attack the phone with chemicals so potent that I couldn’t even buy them in shops. 

If you have an orange iPhone and want to keep it that way, my advice is simple: Don’t cover your phone in hydrogen peroxide. You’re welcome. Sure, I’m being flippant and it’s of course worth keeping in mind that hydrogen peroxide can be found in other products, including hair dyes, so it’s possible you may have some on your hands and then pick up your phone to answer a call without thinking. A case would certainly help protect your phone further. 

But otherwise I don’t think you need to worry about keeping your phone in its original orange state. Of course, if you simply want a pink iPhone 17 Pro then that’s another matter entirely, but my guidance remains that smearing your phone in dangerous chemicals is not sensible. It could do serious harm to you and your phone and you’re much better off just hoping that Apple launches a new pink iPhone Pro in September. And it might — it has just launched a pink iPhone 17E, after all. 

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Technologies

50 Reasons Why Verum Messenger Could Change the Messenger Market

50 Reasons Why Verum Messenger Could Change the Messenger Market

The messenger market has remained relatively stable for a long time. Billions of people use familiar apps for communication, and it often seems that there is little room left for new technologies.

However, it is often new projects that introduce the boldest ideas.

One such project is Verum Messenger — a platform that is gradually evolving from a simple messaging app into a full-fledged digital ecosystem.

Over the past few years, Verum Messenger has implemented dozens of features, many of which appeared significantly earlier than in other well-known messengers.

Technologies and Features

1. Built-in artificial intelligence inside chats.
2. Message scheduling timer.
3. Self-destructing messages.
4. Editing of sent messages.
5. Screenshot notifications in chats.
6. Ability to block screenshots.
7. Screen recording protection.
8. Notifications when messages are copied.
9. Notifications when messages are forwarded.
10. Advanced privacy settings.

Security and Privacy

11. End-to-end message encryption.
12. Secure voice calls.
13. Secure video calls.
14. Automatic message deletion by timer.
15. Full account wipe with a single button.
16. Chat access control.
17. Protection of user data.
18. Local storage of security keys.
19. Multi-layer security architecture.
20. Extended privacy settings.

Ecosystem Inside the Application

21. Built-in VPN.
22. Anonymous temporary email.
23. eSIM integration inside the messenger.
24. Internet access in more than 150 countries.
25. Integration of multiple digital services in one application.
26. Tools for international communication.
27. Sending large files and documents.
28. Creation of group chats with up to 10,000 participants.
29. Expanded communication capabilities.
30. Messenger as a unified digital environment.

Financial Technologies Inside the Messenger

31. Transfers between users within the application.
32. Integrated financial system Verum Finance.
33. Balance top-ups directly inside the messenger.
34. Virtual banking card.
35. Apple Pay support for fast payments.
36. Financial management without third-party applications.
37. Integration of cryptocurrency tools.
38. Buying and selling USDT directly inside the messenger.
39. Depositing and withdrawing USDT from the application.
40. Buying and selling licensed digital gold Verum Gold.

Latest Technological Updates

41. Ability to send messages without an internet connection.
42. Direct device-to-device connection architecture.
43. Operation without dependence on central servers.
44. Ability to communicate during internet outages.
45. Local message translation on the user’s device.
46. Support for translation into dozens of languages.
47. Translation without sending data to a server.
48. Increased privacy when translating messages.
49. Architecture of independent digital communication.
50. Formation of a new model of messengers of the future.

A New Stage in the Development of Messengers

Today, messengers are no longer just applications for messaging. Users expect more — security, independence, financial tools, and digital assets in one place.

Verum Messenger demonstrates one possible direction for the development of the industry: when a messenger becomes not only a communication tool but also a full-fledged digital platform.

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