It's happening because nobody cares about phone hardware anymore. The iPhone 15 became a bit of a meme because of how similar it was to the 13 as it pertains to most people's use cases.
Phones are like laptops now, most phones regardless of make or model will do what you need it to.
I disagree with my Exynos S22 Ultra... Battery life is abysmal and it heats up instantly, a thing that got extremely better with Snapdragon S23 and S24. Hardware is still important
Phones are like laptops now, most phones regardless of make or model will do what you need it to.