In what sense is it unfair or do they get a pass? I’m asking in earnest. My impression is that you may be confused about the dynamics or are just trying to compare Apples to Oranges out of distaste.

No one at Apple paid for a macOS license on your behalf in any sense a legal regime might recognize so there is nothing to be refunded if you choose not to accept the license. It’s one of the many, many structural advantages of vertical integration.

Apple doesn't pay to ship macOS on its devices.

Nobody complaints that MS laptops ship with Windows - this is about hardware companies partnering with MS.

MacOS is free, what refund would you expect?

I reckon Apple buyers are more interested in the OS than in the hardware, in general.