The headphones cost nearly as much as the MacBook (Neo).

Sony HH-1000XM6 are $500

Bose QC Ultra are $450

That is the market for premium BT headphones. There are way more expensive headphones out there.

But yeah it is notable that the Neo is cutting the legs out of the lower end laptop market to that degree.

Does anyone ever actually pay that for them, tho? I've got the QC Ultras; looks like they cost me 331 euro _with VAT_. Apple's RRP is usually the actual sale price, but IME the RRP for Bose stuff at least is generally pure fantasy, with actual prices being significantly lower.

EDIT: Currently they seem to be 350EUR inc VAT on Irish Amazon; Amazon is making it difficult for me to see the US price and I'm not interested enough to fight with it, but I'm guessing that there's a similar level of discount.

Amazon US has list price for QC Ultra 2 at $449 and selling for 5% off at $425

https://a.co/d/0jlMl9RC

I see the QC Ultra (first edition) for $299 USD

Here in Switzerland, Wh-1000XM6 are 349 CHF vs 499 CHF for the APM.

Nope, right now the price for both of them is around €389.

Get ready for Apple introducing the first Macbook with a headphone chip.

More than, considering Apple is willing to openly advertise Neo at $499 for education. The minimum-advertised-price on these won't ever drop below ~$529 for a hot minute.