In the lead-up to the holiday season, Microsoft is throwing down the gauntlet. Got an Apple-branded laptop? The tech giant will give you up to $650 to part ways with it, just as long as you spend that cash on a shiny new Surface Pro 4 or a Surface Book.
Microsoft’s “trade in and trade up” laptop program is yet another campaign in the company’s buyback war against Apple. Microsoft runs a buyback service for businesses and consumers that includes lot of different Apple gadgets. If you own an iPad of any shape or size, for instance, that’s worth up to $455 towards a Windows tablet. You can also trade in an iPhone 7 Plus for a measly $580 in Microsoft credit.
It’s not a terrible deal. The MacBook Air I’m typing this on is worth $450 in Microsoft credit. That’s a little over $1,000 away from being able to buy a Surface Book. It’s also not an even trade. What it really is, however, is nose-thumbing PR move for Microsoft to announce this new MacBook trade-in program just a couple hours before Apple revealed its new MacBooks.
[PC World]