MS / Apple
SWE @Micrsoft in Sea.,WA vs SWE @Apple in Cup., CA ? (Both entry level/new grad)
Stay in Bay Area.
Seattle. It's a growing city. Cheaper than Bay Area. Plus Microsoft has tons of divisions/job. You can easily switch teams/roles there
Recent grad? Go to the Bay area, get roommates and you might find yourself @ a startup in a few years with some big upside @ a unicorn. Hard to save money until you reach mid-level. Go to Seattle, make the same pay, 1 bed or roommates and put more away each yr in your warchest for property or something. Less opportunity than SF but a lot easier to save. Have fun!
the startup scene ended abruptly in fall 2015, they are all on life support trying to exit now.
Both are solid opportunities. Which one looked more fun?
Cupertino is expensive and Apple doesn't pay too well these days, MS is doing well and Seattle is a lot more affordable. if I were to start my career now MS would be the place.
I made $320k a year at Apple ICT4 in Cupertino. Why do you think they don't pay well? Amazon doesn't pay well unless you stay 4 years through the tail vest and hope the stock doubles
In what I have seen in my team, ICT4 total yearly compensation has ranged anywhere between $275K - $375K in the last 2 years. ICT4 is a large band though in Apple.
Look at the specific teams and see which one interests you more. Also for compensation, look at the full package vs just the base salary. Yearly RSUs will be a big part of your compensation at Apple (depending on your performance). Check how those numbers are at Microsoft vs Apple.
You'll get 70k starting stocks at msft and virtually no refreshes each year. You'll get 120-160k starting stocks at Apple and refeshes of up to 100k or more depending on if you're ICT3 or ICT4. It's apple no contest
The numbers are reasonably correct for Apple. As a thumb rule for a fresh grad, the initial RSUs will be 1X - 1.25X of yearly salary. In my team (ICT3 and ICT4's), I have seen the yearly RSU refreshes to vary between $70K and $160K in the last 2 years (these numbers vary a bit based on the org too). The yearly cash bonus is less and can be around 10 - 15% of one's base salary. Bay Area is quite a bit more expensive and there is no state tax in Washington; so factor that in as well in your decision making.
lol, Apple of course
i would recommend Microsoft considering how well they are doing. At Microsoft you might have a great chance to work on a service that might reach to million users. At Apple, you would want to be part of iOS or macOS core teams to have such kind of impact.
iCloud, iTunes and Maps reach millions users through iOS and macOS as well. They are backed by services created in Apple.