Amazon Doubles Big Cheese Max Base Pay; Meta Threatens to Shutter Facebook & Instagram in Europe, Next Apple Event & Entry MacBook Pro; Cost of Replacing Chinese Cell Equipment Explodes

Amazon has just more than doubled maximum base pay for corporate and tech workers, citing competition in the labor market. Geekwire.com reports the new figure is $350,000, up from the previous $160,000. This will bring them in line with other major tech firms like Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. Up to now, Amazon had been trying to keep its base pay low by offering RSUs for its stock, but that is no longer holding people the often 3-4 years before the employee can cash out. 

Due to a new data transfer agreement being considered, which prevents transferring data from the EU to the US, Meta is threatening to shut down both its Facebook and Instagram platforms in Europe. According to CNET.com, the sticking point is the EU’s very strict privacy protection. The latest data transfer agreement was found invalid in 2020 by a top European court. Data transfer allows the company…and others…to transfer, store, and process data at their data centers in the US. Meta is not the only tech company dealing with this, but is the largest affected by far. The company hopes to light a fire under the US and EU negotiators to get a new agreement in place so they can continue operations. 

The next Mac event appears to be slated for March 8th. 9to5mac.com says the expected rollout will include an updated iPhone SE3 with 5G, a new iPad Air…and possibly a new Mac. Mark Gurman over at Bloomberg has written that we should look for a new entry-level MacBook Pro with a proprietary Apple system on a chip…probably called the M2, later this year. In order to continue charging more for the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros, Gurman says the new laptop won’t have the Touch Bar, and will have a lower quality display, processor, and less storage. It won’t get the MiniLED screen or ProMotion, in other words. He and others see Apple as finishing the switch to their own silicon across the entire line this year, ending a long run with Intel processors. 

The cost of removing and replacing Chinese made cell equipment from Huawei and ZTE has exploded. CNBC.com reports that the government had called for replacing the equipment…deemed insecure…and Congress allocated $1.9 billion for that in December 2020. Now, carriers have applied for a whopping $5.6 billion to cover the job! The whole issue came up when it was found that the Chinese equipment were national security risks. The FCC says is will work with carriers and Congress to make sure the carriers aren’t hit with the costs, since the government has mandated the switch out of gear.