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NEAR Price Prediction: Could NEAR Rally 2000% Toward $30?

The first level which is already cleared is $3.25 and next levels that are in cue to watch are $9, and $20.50. If $NEAR regains its previous highs, then the analyst Flippix sees room for a move toward $30 in the line too. But that forecast depends on a sustained recovery, not just a few bullish candles.

$NEAR Transaction Volume Surges Above $900 Million

The on-chain data adds another piece to the bullish case. $NEAR transaction volume reportedly stayed below $100 million through August 2026, before climbing above $900 million by October.

That’s a sharp change in activity. If transaction volume continues rising, it could approach $1 billion soon. Still, higher transaction volume alone doesn’t guarantee stronger token demand or higher prices.

Daily Transaction Add to the Bullish Argument

$NEAR protocol’s daily transaction count is also trending upward, according to the chart from NearBlock’s dashboard. More transactions suggest the blockchain is seeing increased usage, giving traders another metric to watch alongside price action.

However, network activity and token performance don’t always move in lockstep. Market demand still matters, and a bullish chart can’t eliminate downside risk.

For now, the $NEAR price prediction hinges on whether rising activity supports a sustained breakout. The $9 and $20.50 levels offer milestones, while $30 remains the ambitious target. If demand strengthens, further gains are possible but the 2,000% scenario is a forecast that needs hard demand, which doesn’t come easy.

October 14, 2026
‘Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed’ Renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV

“Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” has been renewed for a second season at Apple TV.

Per the official logline, the series stars “follows newly divorced mom Paula (Tatiana Maslany) as she falls down a dangerous rabbit hole of blackmail, murder and youth soccer. Convinced she witnessed a crime — while simultaneously struggling through a custody battle and an identity crisis — Paula begins her own investigation, one that could unravel a greater conspiracy while also holding the keys to rebuilding her family and sense of self.”

The cast also includes Jake Johnson as Paula’s ex-husband Karl alongside Murray Bartlett, Dolly De Leon, Brandon Flynn, Jessy Hodges, Jon Michael Hill, Charlie Hall, Kiarra Hamagami Goldberg and Nola Wallace.

David J. Rosen created “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” and serves as showrunner. Executive producers include Rosen and director David Gordon Green as well as Simon Kinberg Audrey Chon and Anonymous Content’s Bard Dorros, who developed the project. Apple Studios and Counterpart Studios produce.

“We are delighted to continue the story of ‘MPG’ and deeply grateful to Apple and our incredible cast and crew. This is all pretty amazing for a show whose title came from a spam email,” Rosen said in a statement.

Speaking to Variety about the twist in the Season 1 finale, Rosen said, “I always intended it to be a reframing. We’ve felt Paula is a reliable narrator, but we feel moments of unreliability. As Karl says over and over, she’s eccentric, acting in a way that’s not consistent. The audience is like, ‘Screw you, Karl! She’s going through a lot right now!’ But what we come to realize in the end is that something more was afoot. Paula is more complicated than we thought.”

October 14, 2026
As measles continues to spread, health officials are seeing vaccine interest rise

As measles continues to spread across the U.S., local health officials say it may be spurring some to get themselves or their children vaccinated.

More than 4,000 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. as well as six deaths — with the most recent fatality confirmed by Pennsylvania health officials on Monday. It’s the most cases and deaths reported in the country in more than three decades.

Doctors and public health department leaders told ABC News that awareness of the virus’ dangers has led to higher interest in the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine in some areas.

“We have seen increased interest in the MMR vaccine since the start of the outbreak,” Lindsay Pringle, manager of community health and wellness at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, said. “Public awareness of measles and its potential complications have grown during this time, which may influence vaccination decisions.”

Instructions for a Measles vaccination is seen outside of the Lubbock Public Health facility on April 09, 2025 in Lubbock, Texas.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Taking the vaccine to people’s homes

Since an outbreak began in April, cases in Pennsylvania have surpassed 1,100 with more than 200 hospitalizations, according to the state health department.

Dr. Patrick Gavigan, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital in Dauphin County, which borders epicenter Lancaster County, said about 20 children have been admitted due to measles-related illness over the course of the year.

Gavigan said nearly every hospitalized patient had family members who either were currently sick or had been with a measles-like illnesses.

“We’ve had a number of different kinds of conversations with people about MMR vaccine,” Gavigan said. “With patients, by the time we’re seeing them with measles, for them the opportunity has passed and the ship has sailed” to get vaccinated.

In the last month-and-a-half, Gavigan said he has seen a few cases where a child was sick in the hospital with measles and it convinced family members living outside of the home, or other community members, to get vaccinated.

“Individuals are seeing cases of measles and, in these particular instances, seeing more severe cases of measles and recognizing how much a problem this can be,” he said.

Local health officials have taken time to visit more rural communities and those lacking access to vaccination. As some community members have received the vaccine, it has spurred them to recommend the shot to their family, friends and neighbors.

Jeanne Franklin, public health director of the Chester County Health Department in Pennsylvania, told ABC News the most powerful form of communication is from individuals who have been vaccinated and spread the word.

“We have received calls from individuals who have a group of people interested in being vaccinated and request us to come to their home or place of business to provide the MMR vaccine,” she said. “We average about 10 people per call but have vaccinated as many as 67 in one location. When at a home, we have vaccinated in kitchens, porches, living rooms, et cetera.”

A 500% increase in vaccination

Since an outbreak began in June 2025, Utah has recorded 724 measles cases, according to the state’s Department of Health & Human Services.

Unlike Pennsylvania’s outbreak, or those that occurred in Texas and South Carolina — all of which were largely contained to one region — the virus has permeated unvaccinated and under-vaccinated communities in almost every county in Utah.

Kirk Benge, health officer and executive director of the TriCounty Health Department, told ABC News that local officials have been concerned about declining vaccination rates for years. The TriCounty region covers Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties in northeastern Utah.

Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas.

Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

In December 2024, the board issued a letter to the community stating that exemptions for childhood vaccinations among TriCounty kindergartners increased from 4.8% to 11.9% over a four-year period.

Data for the 2025-26 school year shows 16.1% of kindergartners in the TriCounty area were missing documentation for the MMR shot.

TriCounty has recorded 80 cases so far this year. Many of these cases occurred after people became infected at a youth wrestling tournament tin February and subsequently spread the virus in school and within their households.

“We did issue a local request to the school district to require students that were not vaccinated to stay home for several weeks and I think we saw the outbreak in our area subside relatively quickly compared to a lot of areas in the state,” Benge said.

Benge said he saw an interest in the community among parents wanting to catch their child up on the MMR vaccine.

March 2026 saw a 500% increase in parents whose children received the MMR vaccine compared to March 2025, Benge said.

“What we saw was a huge influx of parents wanting to get their children caught up on vaccines so they could stay in school,” he said.

Benge said a conscious effort was made to not stigmatize parents who had previously opted against vaccination.

He recalled one mother who reached out to the health department to ask about vaccination for her infant. She had older children who had never been vaccinated and indicated she had not worried about them contracting measles in the past.

When the mother learned how severe measles can be among infants, she reached out to the TriCounty Health Department and spoke with a nurse about how to best protect her infant.

“She indicated that initially she was nervous to call because she thought she might feel judged, but I do recall that she was very thankful at how considerate and kind our nurses were and that she did not feel judged for choosing not to vaccinate her kids in the past,” Benge said.

October 14, 2026
Ontarians prescribed safer supply drugs will now have to take them in front of health-care professionals

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Ontario’s medical regulator approved significant changes Tuesday to the way doctors prescribe safer supply drugs, in an effort to reduce the amount of opioids making their way to the streets.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s board of directors will soon implement several changes to the practice of prescribing safer supply, which are medications given to people at high risk of overdose as an alternative to illicit opioids.

The board met Tuesday and passed a motion to enact the changes following a discussion on the proposals.

The college will make it mandatory for physicians to prescribe safer supply medications only in conjunction with opioid agonist therapy. The therapy uses medications such as Suboxone and methadone to treat opioid addiction.

“We are just here to protect the public and we’re here to ensure that the public is safe,” said Dr. Patrick Safieh, the board’s chair, near the end of the meeting.

“So we’re trying to prevent diversion as much as possible and at the same time, ensuring that those that do require safer supply are taking (opioid agonist therapy) so that eventually no one is on this and needs this, that’s the purpose.”

The most common form of safer supply is hydromorphone, a powerful opioid often prescribed for pain but significantly less potent than fentanyl and its derivatives that dominate the illicit drug supply chain.

Patients will now have to take the safer supply medications in front of health-care professionals, rather than take the pills home.

The college will not go ahead with an eight-week time limit for physicians to prescribe safer supply to patients it had previously considered.

Hydromorphone being diverted to black market: police

Police forces in Ontario have said diversion of patients’ prescription hydromorphone to the black market is occurring, Safieh said.

The board heard from Dr. Anil Chopra, the college’s associate registrar, who said they have also received information from governments, Addiction Medicine Canada, the addictions section of the Ontario Medical Association and from public health officers about the diversion of hydromorphone to the streets.

WATCH | Opioid-related 911 calls spiking in these Ontario cities:

911 opioid-related overdose calls spiking in these Ontario cities

CBC News broke down the data behind opioid overdose calls to paramedics in Ontario from January to May of this year and compared it to figures from the same time in 2025. The analysis showed a sharp rise in calls in four cities: Ottawa, Toronto, Thunder Bay and Hamilton. While the data doesn’t show what’s behind the increases, researchers, health-care workers and advocates suggest the toxic drug supply and the closure of supervised consumption sites in the past two years may be factors.

Chopra, Safieh and others agreed there is no data available to properly quantify where the hydromorphone on the street is coming from, but said at least part of it is from safer supply prescriptions.

Board member Peter Wiesner said he was concerned that the policy will not work for everyone, citing information sent in by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network that shows more than 87 per cent of patients on safer supply are also on opioid agonist therapy.

“But what about the 12 per cent that it doesn’t work for?” he asked.

“We need to find, I think, some exemptions for the 12 per cent.”

Policy could have ‘outsized effect’ on rural Ontario

He said the new policy will have an outsized effect on those living in rural Ontario who are not close to a pharmacy.

Another concern he raised is for those people who are employed who are using safer supply drugs. Those people may have difficulties getting to a pharmacy every day to take their medicine if they are not allowed to take some home with them.

Safieh said the college will monitor the changes and make adjustments down the road if necessary.

The office of Health Minister Sylvia Jones has previously said she supports the changes.

October 14, 2026
Ethereum’s quantum race takes a new turn as zkSync courts banks and Starknet weighs exit

A prover that meets the real-time benchmark

The Ethereum Foundation defines real-time proving as 99% of mainnet blocks proven in 10 seconds or less, which fits Ethereum’s 12-second slot and propagation assumptions.

ZkSync’s result maps to that definition, including witness preparation, with every block finishing in under 12 seconds.

Airbender Prime uses hash-based STARKs that combine GKR sumcheck, WHIR polynomial commitments, and BLAKE2s hashing, with Keccak-256-based commitments for L1 proofs replacing BN254 pairings.

Nvidia rates the card at 600 watts of board power, and marketplace reporting puts it near $16,000. The Foundation’s target framework also covers proof sizes under 300 KiB, a long-term 128-bit security level, on-premise capital spending near $100,000, and power draw under 10 kilowatts.

Full-system electricity use, proof sizes and long-term operating costs for Prime await independent measurement, and the Foundation’s public proving program continues to evaluate security and reliability.

One layer of the Ethereum quantum stack

Ethereum’s ECDSA account signatures, BLS validator signatures and KZG data commitments belong to separate protocol-level work, and the December 2029 target stands as published, a schedule the Foundation calls aggressive. The prover operates outside Ethereum’s consensus protocol.

Quantum preparation arrives while standalone chains struggle to pay their way. Blast set an Oct. 26 user-exit deadline, saying maintenance costs exceeded revenue, and Abstract is shutting down.

Aave’s risk provider LlamaRisk recommended winding down V3 deployments on six chains, including zkSync, saying zkSync, Scroll and Sonic each generated less than $5,000 in quarterly protocol revenue at current balances.

The evidence points to consolidation and specialization, and many layer-2 (L2) blockchains keep operating. Cheap execution earns too little on its own, and liquidity, distribution, compliance, and institutional access are becoming the defensible layers.

Starknet’s proving layer already rests on hash functions, according to StarkWare’s June roadmap, with its Ethereum dependencies sitting in bridge messaging and blob data availability.

Becoming an L1 would bring those surfaces under Starknet’s control and let it set its own timeline. The idea remains under consideration and would need governance approval and engineering execution.

ZkSync is investing in technology useful to Ethereum’s own architecture and pointing its commercial effort at regulated finance. Starknet explores independence from the base layer, and zkSync builds components for it.

The bank pivot is documented

Matter Labs’ third-quarter report says it prioritized private institutional interoperability over public Gateway interoperability.

Institutions building on its Prividium platform asked for private execution, direct Ethereum settlement, and atomic transfers between Prividium chains. The report removed the interop fees from the original public Gateway proposal and lists the private-interoperability fee model as ongoing work.

Matter Labs says Deutsche Bundesbank is testing Prividium’s open-source permissioning engine in its own infrastructure, which lets regulated institutions run and inspect core code themselves.

The Cari case study from zkSync describes five founding US regional bank partners holding more than $8 trillion in assets. A zkSync-hosted summary puts the broader network at more than 30 institutions with over $10 trillion in combined assets.

Any link between Prividium usage and ZK token demand awaits a published fee model.

Where the Ethereum split goes from here

If Airbender Prime and similar systems keep meeting the Foundation’s security, cost, proof-size, and on-premise targets, zkSync could supply proof infrastructure for Ethereum’s route toward independently verifiable execution while Prividium pilots grow into fee-paying deployments.

That path gives former L2 teams a role as suppliers to the base layer and to regulated finance.

If Prividium deployments remain pilots, private-interoperability fees stay unfinished and public zkSync activity stays weak, the market reads zkSync as a prover stack with a technical result and a thin commercial one.

A compressed quantum timeline would add urgency to Starknet’s L1 option and push Ethereum to accelerate its account, consensus, and data-layer migrations.

Ethereum’s quantum preparations and its scaling sector are being restructured together, and each L2 team is picking among a sovereign chain, a supplier role to Ethereum, a bank-grade vendor business, or consolidation.

October 14, 2026
Survey of Alberta doctors suggests more than half would stop practising if province separates

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Hundreds of physicians say they would stop practising medicine in Alberta if the province separates from Canada, according to a survey by the Alberta Medical Association (AMA).

Of the 1,649 physicians surveyed by the AMA, 15 per cent said they would continue living and practising in Alberta if it became an independent country, and 18 per cent were uncertain about what they would do.

The survey found 55 per cent of respondents said they would move to another Canadian province or territory, while a small percentage would retire or leave the medical field earlier than planned.

The survey results were published Tuesday in a letter released by the association’s president Dr. Heidi Fell.

Tuesday also marked the first of five days of advance voting on separation ahead of the official referendum day on Oct. 19.

‘Focused on an important question’

“As Albertans prepare to vote, the AMA is focused on an important question,” Fell said in the letter. “What could the referendum outcomes mean for patients, physicians and Alberta’s health-care system?”

Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party government has put 10 questions on the ballot.

The first nine questions are about Canada’s Constitution, as well as immigration, including whether the government should impose limitations and financial fees for newcomers and temporary workers accessing health care.

The 10th asks whether the province should stay in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on leaving the country.

The AMA said if Albertans choose to separate, not only would the medical workforce shrink, but health care in an independent Alberta would be left in limbo.

For example, Fell said, it’s unclear how an independent Alberta would fill the health-care funding gap that would be created after it loses federal money.

“In addition to assuming federal health-care funding responsibilities, significant health-care concerns remain, including maintaining access to medicines, equipment and medical services,” she said.

The association also has questions about the effects of the immigration questions on health care, Fell said, should the government receive a mandate on them.

Fell said she wrote to the province’s health ministers last week for more clarity.

Access, coverage concerns

One of her questions is what doctors should do when someone needs necessary care but their eligibility can’t immediately be confirmed.

She has also asked how questions about eligibility should be resolved without delaying care.

“Physicians often need to make clinical decisions before a patient’s identity, residency status or coverage can be verified,” she said.

“Our position is straightforward: uncertainty about coverage should not unnecessarily delay care, and physicians and their staff should not be placed in the position of determining or enforcing a patient’s immigration or coverage status.”

LISTEN | Referendum vote approaches in Alberta:

This is Edmonton29:18How did separation end up on the referendum ballot?

It’s less than a week until referendum day, but this vote has been decades in the making. To prepare us for what’s next, producer Pippa Reed takes a look back at how we got here. From the first Prime Minister Trudeau and the National Energy Program, to the drama of dueling petitions and court cases, we look at the long story of separatist sentiment in Alberta.

Fell said the AMA hopes to hear from the government soon.

“Ultimately, we believe questions about coverage should be addressed through a reliable and timely administrative process so physicians can remain focused on clinical decisions and patients can receive the care they need.”

Hospitals Minister Adriana LaGrange’s office said it is reviewing the association’s letter.

“It would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome of the referendum or any technical legislative, policy or program changes that may follow until Albertans have had their say,” her office said in an email Tuesday.

October 14, 2026
Starlink’s Gen 3 System Faces Opposition From Radio Astronomers

SpaceX’s proposal to upgrade Starlink with a “Gen 3” satellite constellation designed for multi-gigabit speeds is facing opposition from a federally-funded radio astronomy center over concerns about interference.

The opposition comes from the US National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which operates some major radio telescopes in the US. According to the NRAO, SpaceX’s regulatory application for the Gen 3 system needs to be “withdrawn owing to the defects” with some of the radio frequencies the company wants to use.

The opposition is a bit surprising considering SpaceX has been working with NRAO to avoid potential Starlink interference. The radio telescopes feature sensitive receivers to observe deep space and capture faint radio signals from distant objects. The US even enforces a “radio quiet zone” around the NRAO telescopes, which is why Starlink isn’t available around two prominent locations in New Mexico and West Virginia.

(Starlink.com)

Despite the cooperation, NRAO sent a filing to the Federal Communications Commission that suggests the Gen 3 Starlink proposal is incompatible with the organization’s radio telescopes. The problem is SpaceX wants to harness a slice of radio waves in the 148.5 to 151.5 GHz, 200 to 209 GHz, and 250 to 252 GHz bands. “These frequency bands are in widespread use globally by the radio astronomy service,” the NRAO’s 5-page filing says.

The filing doesn’t elaborate on the potential impact. But you can find radio astronomy research papers about using the affected bands to observe protostars, protoplanetary disks and comets.

(NRAO)

NRAO’s filing also suggests the spectrum use will clash with radio astronomy at “above 120GHz,” especially when the proposed Starlink satellites will constantly be passing over the sky. SpaceX’s Gen 3 constellation is designed to span 100,000 satellites, making it far larger than the current Starlink constellation, at around 10,000 satellites. To offer the better speeds and capacity, the company notes the Gen 3 system “will pioneer greenfield W- and D-band frequencies” between a large slice of radio wave in the 92 and 275 GHz.

So far, SpaceX and NRAO haven’t responded to a request for comment about the issue. But in SpaceX’s own filing with the FCC back in July, the company said the 148.5 to 151.5 GHz and 200 to 209 GHz “are lightly used.”

“SpaceX has and will continue to meet with relevant radio astronomy stakeholders to ensure that there is no harmful interference to their operations in these bands,” the filing also said, later adding: “SpaceX looks forward to continuing the conversations with relevant radio astronomy stakeholders to ensure that it does not cause harmful interference to the important and critical radio astronomy operations.”

Recommended by Our Editors

In addition to the NRAO, NASA has also raised some questions and concerns about the Gen 3 constellation, pointing to how the satellites plan to orbit as low as 323 kilometers from the planet. The same satellites would operate below NASA missions, meaning they might “pass through NASA mission altitudes during orbital insertion, phasing, or deorbit.”

“Increased congestion in LEO (low-Earth orbit) presents concerns regarding the ability to execute future exploration missions, including cislunar Artemis missions,” the agency told the FCC in a filing earlier this month. “NASA requests analysis showing that SpaceX’s constellation operations will not reduce launch availability for future exploration missions due to increased LCOLA (Launch Collision Avoidance Analysis) violations or close approaches on orbit.”

However, NASA didn’t oppose SpaceX’s Gen 3 application. “NASA understands the importance of American superiority in space, fostering continued commercial innovation,” the agency said. “The SpaceX Gen3 constellation requires commensurate transparency, technical rigor, and coordination to ensure long-term safety and sustainability of the space environment.”

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October 14, 2026
Need a New Laptop for Work? These Are the Best (and Worst) PC Brands According to IT Buyers

In the first quarter of 2026, worldwide PC shipments were up 4% year-over-year, according to research firm Gartner. Sounds good on paper, but according to Gartner, that figure was not due to genuine demand. It was about boosting PC inventory to beat ongoing “memflation,” the memory price bloat driven by AI data center build-outs.

And as the year has progressed, things have worsened: PC shipments dropped 20% year over year in the third quarter of 2026, according to the research firm IDC. (Typically, Q3 outpaces Q2, but not this year.) This state of affairs, IDC says, “is expected to carry into 2027, with market stabilization not expected before 2028.”

PCMag Readers’ Choice: How Our Surveys Help You Find the Best Products

“We’re in this gray zone of hesitancy around large-scale upgrading, given we’re seeing these historic price rises for RAM, storage, and thus systems as a whole,” says John Burek, PCMag’s executive editor and PC Labs director. “There’s definitely some impetus to buy and upgrade power-user PCs for enterprises that are adopting local AI. But that’s usually for select employees, not at scale.

“Fleet laptop buys are now a gamble,” Burek continues. “Should we do it now, before further price rises, or tough it out with existing hardware for an extra year or two, in hopes of some eventual relief?”

If you’re a business making these tough decisions, our annual Business Choice survey of PCMag readers—many of whom work in IT, handling PC acquisition, deployment, and management—can help. Read on to see which PC makers the people who manage work laptop and desktop PCs recommend.

The Top Laptop Brands for Work in 2026

While a lot has changed since last year’s survey, one thing has not, according to our readers: Apple’s MacBooks are still the best laptop choice for getting work done. Apple has won this category every year we’ve run this business laptop survey—a total of 19 times since 2006, back when we published results in the print edition of PC Magazine.

Apple comes out on top this year for overall satisfaction, with a score of 8.9 out of 10. (Second place in that subcategory goes to Microsoft, which earns an 8.4.) Apple’s other standout scores are for reliability (9.2) and display quality (9.3). The only areas where the brand doesn’t win are value (a first-place tie between HP and Lenovo) and, interestingly, ease of use, where Apple ranks just behind Microsoft and Lenovo.

(Note: Click the arrows in our interactive charts to view various elements of our survey results.)

“I use all sorts of computers for work: Linux on MSI, Windows on MSI, and Mac,” says one survey respondent. “But for reliability and limited distraction, I find any MacBook ideal. Especially now with the performance of Apple Silicon. Display quality is a huge value—I’ve had bad displays, which can be a distraction. Apple never disappoints on quality.”

And here’s another reader rave: “My MacBook Pro is several years old, has had no issues, and has amazing battery life. I almost never bring a power adapter to meetings or presentations. It’s trouble-free, and even when processing large quantities of images or complex designs, it never gets hot. In fact, I can’t say I even remember the last time I heard the fan turn on.”

Not every office can or will support Macs, so we also always feature the top Windows laptop brand for work. For the last three years, Lenovo has led the pack here. But this year, Microsoft itself wins. Its Surface-branded laptops take the crown for the first time since 2020.

Among the Windows laptop vendors in our survey, Microsoft has the highest overall satisfaction score (8.4), outranking the big three PC manufacturers for the workplace: Dell, HP, and Lenovo. As noted above, Microsoft has the top score for ease of use, a tie with Lenovo, the third-place brand overall. Microsoft also ties with Lenovo for likelihood to recommend (8.2) and with HP and Dell for the quality of their touch screens (9.1).

“I use a Surface with Intel, and it is a little workhorse. Great battery life,” says one respondent. “I highly recommend it.” Another reader offers, “My Surface Studio 2 has been a steadfast companion—consistently reliable, effortlessly powerful, and more than capable of keeping pace with the demands of my role as a support technician.”

“While Apple sparked the trend of high-design systems with high reliability, Microsoft rose to the challenge with some equally top-end hardware designs that don’t quit,” PCMag deputy editor Joe Osborne says. “That kind of dependability is paramount for businesses large and small that would love to hold onto hardware resources for as long as possible. When it comes to longevity, it’s about a dead heat between Microsoft and Apple at the moment.”

To see our top picks for lab-tested business laptops, check out The Best Work Laptops for 2026.

The Top IT-Managed Laptop Brands for 2026

When we focus on the laptop preferences of the IT professionals in our survey, the field narrows to the big three. And IT pros’ choices are starkly different than those of workers at large. Whereas Dell came in last place above, here it ties with Lenovo for overall satisfaction (8.2) and likelihood to recommend (8.4), the two criteria we consider first when choosing a Business Choice award winner.

In the end, the title goes to Dell since it earns the highest scores in the most categories, including ease of use (8.9), reliability (8.7), and display quality (8.6). Lenovo is a stellar choice as well, with the highest ratings for durability (8.7), battery life (8.0), and value (8.2). Dell and Lenovo tie for size and weight (8.3).

In third is HP, which only manages to best second-place Lenovo on one rating, ease of use, by a tenth of a point. However, HP comes in second for value and battery life, a full point ahead of Dell.

“I’ve managed fleets for 15 years, and Dell’s 2026 lineup—specifically the XPS 14 and the Pro 14 Premium—is the first time I’ve felt a brand actually respects the IT budget,” says one respondent. “The standout feature is the modular internal design. Now, our internal team can swap the port module in minutes. From a deployment perspective, Dell Command Suite [management tools remain] the gold standard. Dell isn’t just selling laptops anymore; they’re selling a low-maintenance ecosystem that actually lasts.”

“Dell is one of the most prolific providers of computers in the business world, having been in the game for more than 40 years,” Osborne says. “While hardware is a large piece of that, software and implementation are even more important, and that’s where Dell’s support for fleet managers and other IT pros excels.”

For more, check out our list of The Best Mobile Workstations for 2026.

The Top Desktop PC Brands for Work in 2026

In our highly mobile work world, desktops don’t sell as well as laptops, as illustrated by IDC data. But powerful workstations still have their place. The three major PC makers, plus Apple, all show up in our results again this year, as they typically do, but with numbers that differ from last year’s.

Recommended by Our Editors

In 2025, Dell, Lenovo, and HP tied for overall satisfaction. Ultimately, Dell came out on top with workers. This year, there’s another tie for satisfaction—between Lenovo and Apple. But Lenovo has the superior recommendation score, thereby taking the prize. This is Lenovo’s fourth time winning a Business Choice award for desktops since 2021.

There are a few subcategories where Apple comes out on top, like value (which is surprising, since Apple doesn’t have a reputation for competitive pricing), and for graphics capabilities. In fact, Apple’s graphics score (9.2) is the only number on the entire desktop chart that exceeds 9.0.

HP, which ranks third overall, narrowly beats Lenovo in reliability, with an 8.6. Dell, which won for business desktops last year, brings up the rear. (Dell ties HP for overall satisfaction, but slips to fourth because of its recommendation score.)

“Business desktops are a tricky area to make blanket judgments in, because models vary so much from product family to product family,” Burek says. “But Lenovo’s desktop operation obviously benefits from its synchronicity with the dominant, heavily adopted ThinkPad laptop brand. Procuring all your PCs from a single manufacturer can obviously appeal to some buyers.”

Lenovo, which is based in Beijing, has “better overall quality and workmanship, and efficient layout, than most USA brand computers,” says one survey respondent.

To see which desktop PC currently leads in our lab testing, read The Best Desktop Computers for Business in 2026 and The Best Desktop Workstations for 2026.

The Top IT-Managed Desktop PC Brands for 2026

In another marked departure from last year’s results—when Lenovo dominated in this category—the award for IT-managed desktop PCs now goes to Dell. (Lenovo didn’t earn enough responses this year to make the cut.) This is Dell’s first win in the category since 2023, when it shared the award with Apple.

Dell triumphs over HP in every subcategory except reliability, where the brands tie. Still, none of the scores are particularly high; the best rating in the chart is Dell’s 8.4 for ease of use.

“Our transition to the Dell Tower Plus as our standard workstation has been a silver bullet for our IT department,” says one respondent. “The standout experience has been the whisper-quiet thermal performance of the new 120mm fan design. Even when our data scientists push the Intel Core Ultra 9 chips to the limit with local AI models, the acoustics remain a library-level hum.

“We’ve seen a 20% reduction in downtime this year because ProSupport Plus often detects hardware anomalies, like a stuttering fan, and automatically creates a support ticket before the user even notices a performance dip. And the ability to schedule a preventative repair instead of reacting to a crash is a huge win.”

Full Results

The PCMag Business Choice survey for business PCs was in the field from Jan. 26 to July 13, 2026. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read our methodology.

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October 14, 2026
Cristiano Ronaldo sends a heartfelt message to Lionel Messi after his last game with Argentina’s national team

On October 6, Lionel Messi closed an important chapter in his life as he played his final game with Argentina’s national team. Many current and former players, including legends like Ronaldinho, shared moving messages honoring his incredible career and his brilliant role with La Albiceleste.

Cristiano Ronaldo was no exception. After the emotional farewell at Estadio Monumental, he also expressed his respect for the man who, for so many years, was considered his biggest rival on the pitch.

© Europa Press via Getty Images
Footballer Lionel Messi during the match between Argentina and Benin

On October 7, after his unforgettable night in Buenos Aires, Leo posted an emotional message on social media in which he thanked his family, teammates, clubs, and fans, following up on the heartfelt speech he delivered on the field after the match against Benin.

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Friends, colleagues, and fans flooded him with love, but among all the comments, the one that undoubtedly drew the most attention was Cristiano’s.

“Leo, so many years defending your country and a story that will remain forever. All my respect for what you’ve achieved with Argentina. A hug,” wrote the Portuguese star. Cristiano’s comment received over 6 million likes and sparked thousands of replies.

© AFP via Getty Images
Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi (R) and Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo (L)

Months earlier, in August, CR7 had already sent Leo a personal message following the heartbreaking passing of his father, Jorge Messi. After the Argentine great broke his silence about his loss and shared an emotional message on social media, Cristiano reached out with words of support and comfort.

“A huge hug for you and your loved ones in these difficult moments, Leo. Stay strong,” Cristiano wrote in the comments on Leo’s post. That show of solidarity, which earned thousands of likes, didn’t come as a complete surprise, as the Portuguese icon went through the same loss years earlier when his own father, José Dinis Aveiro, passed away in 2005 due to liver failure.

In 2023, during a press conference at Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras, on the outskirts of Lisbon, Cristiano spoke about the rivalry with Messi that has followed them for years. “We shared the stage for 15 years and we ended up being, I won’t say friends, I’ve never had dinner with him (laughs), but we’re colleagues in this profession and we respect each other,” CR7 said. “People who like Cristiano Ronaldo don’t have to hate Messi. We’re both very good, we have changed the history of soccer. We’re respected all over the world, and that’s what matters most,” he added.

© Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus F.C. is put under pressure by Lionel Messi of Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League Group G stage match between FC Barcelona and Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo talks about his own farewell from the national team

The same day Lionel Messi said goodbye to La Albiceleste, Cristiano Ronaldo shared a long open letter in which he addressed the controversy surrounding his unexpected departure from Portugal’s training camp ahead of their UEFA Nations League match against Denmark. At the end of his statement, “El Bicho” spoke about the moment when he will eventually say goodbye to the Portuguese national team.

© AFP via Getty Images
Nassr’s Portuguese forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo warms-up before the start of the Saudi Pro League football match

Cristiano admitted he has heard “a lot of talk about farewell matches, that I should have a proper sendoff and that the Federation wants to give me that opportunity.” “I can promise all my fans, of course, and especially all the Portuguese people, that we will have one or more farewell matches; there will be time for that,” assured the 41-year-old player. “But when I think about the national team, what I really think about is competing,” he added.

“If I’m in good physical shape, playing for my club, hopefully scoring goals, once I have served whatever suspension I receive, I will be available, as I have always been until now, to compete and win with our national team,” Cristiano said, making it clear he’s ready to accept the consequences of his sudden departure from the Portuguese camp days earlier.

The end of a football era

For nearly 20 years, football fans around the world were divided into Team Messi and Team Ronaldo as the rivalry between them evolved into a global phenomenon that shaped modern football, fueled endless discussions, and pushed both superstars to unprecedented heights.

For the next nine seasons, they faced each other regularly in El Clásico, one of the biggest fixtures in world sport. Their battles helped elevate the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry to unprecedented global popularity.

© AFP via Getty Images
Nassr’s Portuguese forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo runs with the ball during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Nassr and Al-Riyadh

Together they accumulated countless league titles, Champions League trophies, domestic cups, and individual honors. They dominated the Ballon d’Or conversation for more than a decade, turning the award into an annual chapter of their rivalry.

October 14, 2026
Former Miss Puerto Rico, Jennifer Colón, calls out male TV hosts over on-air remarks about working mothers

Former Miss Universe Puerto Rico Jennifer Colón is speaking out after a segment on Puerto Rican morning television left her questioning how women, particularly working mothers, are treated when they pursue their professional ambitions.

In a public statement shared on Instagram on October 2, 2026, Colón directly named television personalities Johnny Lozada and Julio Núñez, accusing them of using their platform to diminish her work while discussing her personal and professional life.

© Jennifer Colón
Former Miss Puerto Rico, Jennifer Colón

The controversy centers on a segment aired on En La Mañana PR, broadcast on TeleOnce, where Colón says her career and personal circumstances became a topic of discussion.

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Rather than remaining silent, the beauty queen and mother issued a forceful response, making it clear that her concerns extend beyond her own experience.

© Getty Images
Miss Puerto Rico, Jennifer Colin, in The 73rd Miss Universe Competition

Her message was also directed at women who have been told their time has passed, that motherhood should limit their goals, or that starting over professionally is no longer an option.

What Did Johnny Lozada and Julio Núñez Say About Jennifer Colón?

The disagreement began when the hosts discussed Colón’s return to beauty pageants, including her plans to compete in Miss Grand International All Stars 2026. During the October 2 segment, Núñez questioned whether competing in another pageant was an appropriate priority for a woman in her 30s with four children.

According to Metro Puerto Rico, Núñez asked whether Colón should instead focus on her education and professional development rather than continue pursuing beauty competitions.

His comments prompted criticism from Colón, who viewed the discussion as an unfair judgment of her choices as both a mother and a professional.

TeleOnce’s own coverage confirmed that Núñez criticized aspects of Colón’s previous Miss Universe performance, including her wardrobe choices. The network also reported that a female panelist, Carlisa, disagreed with the criticism and defended women’s ability to pursue personal goals while raising children.

Jennifer Colón Responds: “I’m an Excellent Mom!”

Colón did not hold back when addressing the criticism. In a video response reported by Metro Puerto Rico, she declared: “¡Soy una excelente mamá!” The statement translates to “I’m an excellent mom!”

She also challenged what she considered an outdated way of thinking, asking whether society was still living in the Stone Age and whether those expressing such views were dinosaurs.

© Getty Images
Miss Puerto Rico, Jennifer Colin, speaks in The 73rd Miss Universe Competition

Former Miss Universe Puerto Rico Issues Public Statement

The controversy took another turn when Colón published a written statement on her verified Instagram account, @jennifercolonpr. The October 2 post, titled “Comunicado Público,” directly identified Johnny Lozada and Julio Núñez and criticized their treatment of her during the broadcast.

In the statement, Colón expressed disappointment that two men had used a television platform to diminish the work of a woman pursuing her ambitions while fulfilling her responsibilities as a mother.

She also acknowledged the female panelist who defended working mothers during the conversation. Her accompanying Instagram caption began: “Now the time has come to raise my voice.”

Colón explained that she was speaking not only for herself but also for young girls, aspiring professionals, working mothers, and women returning to their careers after having children.

She referenced familiar messages women sometimes encounter, including being told that their time has passed or that their ambitions are inappropriate because they have children. She ended the caption with one emphatic word: “Enough.”

Jennifer Colón Is Returning to Beauty Pageants

Colón represented Puerto Rico at Miss Universe 2024 and is now preparing for another international competition. The former titleholder, model, and presenter is a mother of four, a detail that became central to the television discussion.

Her upcoming participation in Miss Grand International All Stars 2026 represents another opportunity to compete internationally and continue developing her career in the beauty industry.

© Eyepix Group/LightRocket via Get
Miss Puerto Rico Jennifer Colon Alvarado

While some commentators have questioned the decision, Colón sees her return as an opportunity to challenge the idea that women must abandon their aspirations after becoming mothers.

She explained that changing this mentality is one reason she wants to compete again.

Her position also reflects changes within the beauty pageant industry, where conversations about age, motherhood, representation, and professional opportunities have become increasingly prominent.

October 14, 2026