Apple-Maybe No Oct. Event; Starlink Speeds Slowing Down; Microsoft-Results Not Micromanaging; Mercedes EV G-Wagen in 2024

Apple watching analyst Mark Gurman of Bloomberg is now saying there may not be a physical or online event in October to roll out more Apple products. He is saying that the updated iPad Pro, Mac Mini, and the M-2 chipped 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros may just be announced by a press release on the Apple website instead. Apple had originally planned an October product event. Another nugget from Gurman’s PowerOn newsletter…Apple may ditch the ‘Pro Max’ name for its top of the line iPhone 15 next September. Apple may decide to go with “Ultra,” instead. That’s what Cupertino is calling the new top Apple Watch.

Starlink median download speeds have dropped rather dramatically this year. Arstechnica.com reports that Ookla speed tests show they are down from 90.6 Mbps to 62.6 Mbps. Upload speeds are also way down…as low as 2 Mbps…Starlink has been telling users to expect 10 to 20 Mbps for those. One bright spot…latency is still relatively flat, but still higher than fixed broadband service in most countries. 

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says remote work has spurred “productivity paranoia” among managers, leading to efforts to spy on employees. Businessinsider.com says that Microsoft held a corporate survey that polled 20,000 people across 11 countries on productivity during the era of remote and hybrid work. The survey found that 85% of managers are concerned that workers aren’t being productive and 87% of employees say they are working effectively — a disconnect between workers and managers that Microsoft aims to fix. Microsoft VP Jared Spatero added “We don’t think that employers should be surveilling and taking note of the activity of keystrokes and mouse clicks and those types of things because, in so many ways, we feel like that’s measuring heat rather than outcome.”

Mercedes-Benz electric G-Wagon will be hitting the streets in the middle of 2024, according to theverge.com. The word came from a roundtable the Mercedes chairman held for reporters this week. He didn’t reveal any information about range, battery size, or power output…or of course, the price.  It will have all-wheel drive, though. Mercedes plans to go all-electric by 2030.