My original comment was that macOS is no better. They require an account for downloading any app on the app store. The Microsoft store does not require one.
Even then, a Surface Laptop is somewhere in between a MacBook Air and MacBook pro depending on configuration. Where I live, if you start adding necessary options, at the announced price a SL6 16/512GO is more expensive than a MacBook Air 16/512 (1879 vs 1759 euros) but much less expensive than a base MacBook Pro with 16/512 (2229 euros) and it arguably perform closer to the latter (especially with the dedicated 8GB of VRAM).
Then again, I would not buy them at launch and at the very least one should wait for their consumer-oriented offering.
Where I agree with you, is in Microsoft being almost as idiotic as Apple are with their pricing.
Comparing some third party provider against Apple isn’t entirely reasonable, unless they’re marketing a very similarly premium brand.
The 13.5 sLaptop 6 for Business is, i5/8gb/256gb is $1200
Compare that the 14” MBP (M3/8gb/512gb) for $1600. The diff in SSD storage offsets some of the cost, but not the whole $400
However, the 13” MacBook Air with the same specs (although a much better CPU) - M3/8gb/256gb is actually $100 cheaper.
Until someone builds an actual M3 competitor, Apple’s making better laptops for cheaper.
I have an M1 16” MBP that’s still running laps around any other laptop I’ve ever owned, including the 15” sBook 2 with a 1060. The Windows Arm laptop I have sucks compared to the M-series.
Anyway, totally agree that Apple does the same cross-sell garbage as Microsoft, just think it’s way off to argue that their hardware is more expensive, at least meaningfully so when you compare the performance, longevity, and battery life.