Microsoft counters MacBook Neo with free Game Pass and Office bundle on Windows laptops

[acrossthestars]

College students who purchase eligible Windows laptops before July 31 can receive a free year of Microsoft 365 Premium, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and a customized Xbox controller.

Assuming an MSRP of $199/year for MS 365 Premium, $360 for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate credits (4 * $90 for 3 months) and ~$70 for a custom Xbox controller (they aren't going to bundle an Xbox Elite Series 2 wireless controller, which normally costs $200), that is $630 of value.

However, that is $630 of value for 1 year. The Macbook Neo is good for at least 1 year and it's not a subscription. Apple probably isn't going to send agents out in the world, to reclaim Neo units after-the-fact. At least you get to keep the controller...

Both subscriptions renew automatically and require a payment method, so those planning to opt out will need to cancel before the trial period ends.

I know this is a promotion, but it really needs to be emphasized just how "nothing" this value proposition is. Just like with a gym membership, they are hoping you redeem this "value-add"...and then just forget to unsubscribe. When you are dealing with the stress of finals and term papers due, in the fall, the last thing on your mind is "oh yeah, Microsoft is going to slap me with a $600 bill soon..."

 

[LordVile95]

Assuming an MSRP of $199/year for MS 365 Premium, $360 for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate credits (4 * $90 for 3 months) and ~$70 for a custom Xbox controller (they aren't going to bundle an Xbox Elite Series 2 wireless controller, which normally costs $200), that is $630 of value.

You also get an office suite for free on Mac… and the game pass ultimate is only really for streaming which cuts its value

 

[MonicaPython2]

But I believe Neo is more secure

 

[ZedRM]

Microsoft being ever more clueless? This is completely brainless response. It's very sad non-response.

 

[Carlos GarPov]

Microsoft’s laptops are laggy.

 

[toooooot]

Sh**tiest counter. It is like if MacBook Neo had half its RAM expire after 6 months and turn off, and the screen would downgrade to 720p as well.

 

[magisys]

Offering subscription based software or service to battle against a piece of hardware that a non recurrent purchase that can potentially last over a decade to the user who bought it?

Nice try, Microslop.

 

[MarkHughes]

Um... newsflash, MacOS has a UNIX under the hood. Damn near anything you can do on Linux you can do on MacOS. You can run scripts, compile stuff, and you can even run BASH instead of Apple's own shell. You can even install WINE but I would suggest using Crossover instead.

One might even go as far as to say that MacOS is like the best of both worlds—a UNIX OS under the hood with a user-friendly layer on top.

Yes, this is something I didn't appreciate was that it is posix compliant unix, And some of the terminal commands are quite familiar to me. In fact I have found it extremely easy to move from Windows to MacOS.

 

[MarkHughes]

Offering subscription based software or service to battle against a piece of hardware that a non recurrent purchase that can potentially last over a decade to the user who bought it?

Nice try, Microslop.

Also, I bought a Neo and since then also an Air, to get away from Microsoft, So nothing they can offer will give me that. The only Windows machine I have now is to play World of Warcraft on and nothing else.

 

[scavengerspc]

Thanks for this article, Daniel!
We had forgotten about our MacBook a while back because nobody could find it. This made us rethink and PRESTO! We remembered we put it under the short leg of the couch!
It had never been more useful

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I get where you're coming from, but simplicity is visibility all on its own. Which Windows laptop competes with the Neo? That takes work to find out, and at the lower price point, every ounce of work saved are customers gained. Windows of course benefits from having a diverse selection of OEMs to purchase from, but in a market segment where quality is shaky, "MacBook Neo" is a lot easier to remember, and carries a brand identity that people are more likely to trust, then the name of some laptop model from basically anyone else.

Up the stack and it's a different mindset, you want to get what you pay for after all. But at $500-$600, who wants to spend hours comparing brands figuring out if X, Y, or Z is a good buy?

Your average cheap customer is going to walk into BestBuy and see what they have. Thus, the mini Apple store inside. Product promotions on Apple's website are for Apple people.

Most people will stick with what they know regardless of Apple's marketing. That's why the education market is so important. Young people are the most likely to jump ship on OS if their friends or a cool youtuber says Mac is good, but there is a LOT of inertia is OS choice.

 

[trparky]

Most people will stick with what they know regardless of Apple's marketing.

You're forgetting about how even normal people are getting pissed off at Microslop. It's not just people like us that are getting sick and tired of Windows, normal people are too. That should really tell you that Microslop has lost the plot.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

You're forgetting about how even normal people are getting pissed off at Microslop. It's not just people like us that are getting sick and tired of Windows, normal people are too. That should really tell you that Microslop has lost the plot.

Normal people are pissed about a lot of things, but do little change most, if any, of them.

 

[Taroo]

Haha, Office and Game Pass won't save them. People move to macOS because Windows 11 is pure trash.
You won't fix that with some cloud-based services.

 

[CapNemo72]

I too bought the Neo and the ecosystem is great, it has great value for sure.
I miss keyboard backlighting and the tilting angle of the screen is very limited.
As an European I did get frustrated with the azerty keyboard layout (@ and \), had to script the home and end to make my cursor move.
For my job need to take over other windows computers with RDP (windows app), but then the keyboard would went bananas making me switch between unicode and scancode.
It's a very specific usecase, I know, but frustrating.
Also, logging in with my Apple ID is great how it set things up out of the box, I could see family pictures when I logged in the first time, make phone calls with my mac and so on.
If MS would do this, we all would go mad from insane indignation. We don't trust that company a tiny bit.
Apple gets away with it, because their policy is not to make money from stealing our identity (unlike M$, Meta and Google), but guys, aren't we being naive here?

Anyway, I ditched the neo for now, and booted a spare computer with a fresh installation of Linux Mint.
Boy that platform has improved, and as a rusted Windows user, I don't have to use that darn command button but can press the control key again! Yaay!

But you can get Apple computer with other keyboard layouts, not just French one (azerty). You just need to select it when ordering, or if you were buying in store, ask for it.
the only downside is,if they do not have them in stock. But it usually takes like 4-5 days to be delivered.