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MacworldDespite occasional and somewhat persistent rumors about an Apple Ring, the CEO of the most well-known smart ring maker isnt concerned. In fact, he doesnt think Apple will enter the category at all.In a recent interview with CNBC at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, Oura CEO Tom Hale predicted that Apple likely wont enter the smart ring spacenot because its unprofitable but because its difficult.I think they [Apple] are unconvinced about the value of having a ring and a watch together and theyre not interested in undercutting the Apple Watch as a business, Hale said. I think theyre probably keeping a close eye on Samsung and a close eye on us, but its hard to do this product category right.Hale may very well prove correct, but a smart ring doesnt have to cannibalize Apple Watch sales. If the price and positioning are correct, and Apple ring could augment the Apple Watch with new sensors or data collected when the watch is charging or not being worn.Apple has been rumored to be exploring the launch of a smart ring for years but little solid information has turned up to suggest an actual product is anywhere near production. However, Apple has made health tech a top priority recently, including adding a Hearing Protection and Hearing Aid features to the AirPods Pro. There have also been persistent rumors that Apple is planning to add more health features to the AirPods, such as heart-rate monitoring.The Oura Ring 4 has a battery that lasts longer than a week and tracks more than 20 biometrics throughout the day, including sleep, steps, and blood-oxygen levels. Samsung also recently entered the smart ring market with its own Galaxy Ring for $400.

MacworldBlack Friday, the biggest shopping weekend of the year, is very nearly here and you can expect to get a good deal on a new Mac between November 29 until December 2, 2024. In fact we are already seeing some deals which you can find below! We are tracking every Mac deal we can find to give you the very best view on whats out there this Black Friday. Whether youre looking for an iMac, Mac mini, or a Mac Studio, well help you find the best price.At Macworld we monitor deals in the U.S. and U.K. all year long and we basing our recommendations on our extensive knowledge of Apples products new and old. For example, it is important to be aware that Apple recently updated the Mac mini and iMac to the M4 chip (as it did with the MacBook Pro). These updates were much more than just a new chip though, Apple also doubled the RAM allocated as standard from 8GB to 16GB. Additionally, in the U.K. prices fell (though not in the U.S.). As a result the older generation of iMac and Mac mini would have to be considerably reduced in price to compete with the new models. Youll see how much RAM (aka unified memory) is on offer for the deals below, so you know exactly what you are getting. We also include the price Apple sells Macs for, and the price it used to sell them for in the case of discontinued models. If you are looking for a MacBook deal, read our separate advice in our guide to the best Black Friday MacBook deals. And if you want to know what other Apple products are discounted read Best Black Friday 2024 Apple deals. Does Apple discount Macs for Black Friday?Apple doesnt discount Macs for Black Friday, instead Apple gives away vouchers with purchases on Black Friday. Well be updating this page as the discounts come in and as Apple announces it own Black Friday 2024 sale. Luckily there are plenty of resellers who do discount MacBooks and we are watching them closely so that we can spot the best deals. If we see what we think is a good deal we will share it below in fact, we have already seen some good discounts.Best Black Friday Mac mini deals U.S.Amazon, Mac mini, M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB: $550 ($49 off with coupon, MSRP $599)Amazon, Mac mini, M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 256GB: $1,355 ($45 off, MSRP $1,399)Amazon, Apple Studio Display: $1,499 ($100 off, MSRP $1,599)There are big savings are on the older models as well:Amazon, M2 Mac mini, 8GB RAM, 256GB: $469 ($130 off, MSRP $799 Clearance)Amazon, M2 Pro Mac mini, 16GB RAM, 512GB: $1,149 ($150 off, MSRP $1,299 Clearance)U.K.KRCS: M4 Mac mini, 256GB/16GB RAM, 569.05 (29 off, RRP 599)KRCS: M4 Pro Mac mini, 512GB/24GB RAM, 1,329.05 (69 off, RRP 1,399)KRCS: M4 iMac, 256GB/16GB RAM, 1,234.05 (64 off, RRP 1,299)These older models are also discounted, just remember that the price dropped for the new generation and there is more RAM:Amazon: M2 Pro Mac mini, 512GB/16GB RAM: 1,197 (201 off, RRP was 1,399 Clearance)Amazon: M2 Mac mini, 256GB/8GB RAM: 459 (190 off, RRP was 649 Clearance)Amazon: M2 Mac mini, 512GB/8GB RAM: 638 (211 off, RRP was 849 Clearance)For more deals on all Mac mini Apple sells see our Best Mac mini deals round up.Best Black Friday iMac deals U.S.Amazon, M4 iMac, 8-core CPU/GPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB: $1,150 ($149 off with coupon, MSRP $1,299)Amazon, M4 iMac, 10-core CPU/GPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB: $1,350 ($149 off with coupon, MSRP $1,499)Older models: Amazon, M3 iMac, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB: $1,099 ($200 off, MSRP was $1,299 Clearance)Amazon, M3 iMac, 10-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB: $1,299 ($200 off, MSRP was $1,499 Clearance)U.K.KRCS: M4 iMac, 256GB/16GB RAM, 1,169.10 (64 off, RRP 1,299)KRCS: M4 iMac, 512GB/16GB RAM, 1,349.10 (150 off, RRP 1,499)KRCS: M4 iMac, 512GB/24GB RAM, 1,529.11 (170 off, RRP 1,699)And these older models. Again note that the new M4 models have more RAM and the price has dropped. Amazon, 24-inch M3 iMac, 8-core GPU, 256GB/8GB RAM: 1,099 (300 off, RRP was 1,399 Clearance)Amazon, 24-inch M3 iMac,10-core GPU, 256GB/8GB RAM: 1,349 (300 off, RRP was 1,599 Clearance)John Lewis, 24-inch M3 iMac,10-core GPU, 512GB/8GB RAM: 1,449.97 (349 off, RRP was 1,799 Clearance)For deals on all 24-inch iMacs see our Best iMac deals round up.FoundryBest Black Friday Mac Studio deals The Mac Studio hasnt been updated and is still using the M2 Max and Ultra chips. We expect that Apple will update this model in 2025. Read about the M4 Mac Studio.U.S.B&H, Mac Studio M2 Max: $1,889 ($110 off off, MSRP $1,999).U.K.John Lewis, Mac Studio M2 Max: 1,903 (196 off, MSRP 2,099).See the Best Mac Studio deals available now.What is Apple offering in 2024?Each year Apple holds a Black Friday four-day shopping event, but rather than offering discounts it just gives gift vouchers for certain products. In 2023 you could get gift cards for the following amounts with the following Mac purchases made on Apples U.S. site or Apples U.K. site.We expect a similar offer in 2024 and will update this when we have the information. 2023202215-inch MacBookAir with M2chip$20016013-inch MacBookAir with M2chip$17514013-inch MacBookAir with M1chip$150120Mac mini$10080Black Friday shopping tipsWe often find the best savings are for older models. Be sure to confirm what the generation is of the discounted model so that you know exactly what you are buying and what its really worth. Sometimes resellers switch to selling refurbished or used products once their stock of brand new models run out. Make sure you check that the model discounted isnt actually a used Mac and therefore not as good a deal as it might look. On Amazon, for example, look for Buy New prices.Mac deals are not limited to Black Friday. There are good deals to be had all year round, so dont feel pressured into buying during Black Friday. Which resellers have the best Black Friday dealsLook out for the best deals over the Black Friday week, but many resellers are already offering Black Friday discounts. U.S. Adorama is advertising Holiday Deals.Amazon has Holiday Deals.Best Buys Black Friday sale has started. B&H Photo has a Holiday Head Start sale. Walmarts Black Friday deals have already started.U.K.KRCS has already reduced Mac prices by 10%. AO.com has various Black Friday savings.Laptops Directs Black Friday sale has started. eBuyer has a Black Friday Early Access Sale with up to 45% off. Verys Black Friday sales is underway. John Lewis is running Black Friday deals.Currys has up to 40% off for Black Friday.Argos has a price promise that the prices wont go any lower for Black Friday.Amazons Black Friday week starts on 21 November.Black Friday 2024: Best deals for Apple productsCheck out these roundups for the best Apple deals:Best Black Friday 2024 Apple accessory dealsApple Black Friday 2024 saleBest Black Friday 2024 Apple dealsBest Black Friday 2024 Mac DealsBest Black Friday 2024 MacBook dealsBest Black Friday 2024 AirPods dealsBest Black Friday 2024 Apple Watch dealsBest Black Friday 2024 iPad dealsBest Black Friday 2024 iPhone dealsBest Black Friday 2024 Mac monitor dealsBest Black Friday 2024 SSD and external hard drive deals

Microsofts November Patch Tuesday release addresses 89 vulnerabilities in Windows, SQL Server, .NET and Microsoft Office and three zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-43451,CVE-2024-49019andCVE-2024-49039) that mean a patch now recommendation for Windows platforms. Unusually, there are a significant number of patch re-releases that might also require administrator attention.The team atReadinesshas provided this infographicoutlining the risks associated with each of the updates for this cycle. (For a rundown of recent Patch Tuesday updates, see Computerworlds round-up here.Known issuesThere were a few reported issues for the September update that have been addressed now, including:Enterprise customers are reporting issues with theSSHservice failing to start on updated Windows 11 24H2 machines. Microsoft recommended updating the file/directory level permissions on the SSH program directories (remember to include the log files). You can read more about this official workaroundhere.It looks like we are entering a new age ofARM compatibility challenges for Microsoft. However, before we get ahead of ourselves, we really need to sort out the (three-month old) Roblox issue.Major revisionsThis Patch Tuesday includes the following major revisions:CVE-2013-390: WinVerifyTrust Signature Validation Vulnerability. This update was originally published in 2013 via TechNet. This update is now made available and is applicable to Windows 10 and 11 users due to a recent change in theEnableCertPaddingCheckWindows API call. We highly recommend a review of this CVE and its associated Q&A documentation. Remember: if you must set your values in the registry, ensure that they are type DWORD not Reg SZ.CVE-2024-49040: Microsoft Exchange Server Spoofing Vulnerability. When Microsoft updates a CVE (twice) in the same week, and the vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, its time to pay attention. Before you apply this Exchange Server update, we highly recommend a review of the reportedheader detectionissues and mitigating factors.And unusually, we have three kernel mode updates (CVE-2024-43511,CVE-2024-43516andCVE-2024-43528that were re-released in October and updated this month.These security vulnerabilities exploit arace conditionin Microsofts Virtualization Based Security (VBS). Its worth a review of themitigating strategies while you thoroughly test these low-level kernel patches.Testing guidanceEach month, theReadinessteam analyzes the latest Patch Tuesday updates and provides detailed, actionable testing guidance based on a large application portfolio and a detailed analysis of the patches and their potential impact on Windows platforms and application installations.For this release cycle, we have grouped the critical updates and required testing efforts into separate product and functional areas including:Networking:Test end-to-end VPN, Wi-Fi, sharing and Bluetooth scenarios.Test out HTTPclients over SSL.Ensure internet shortcut files (ICS) display correctlySecurity/crypto:After installing the November update on your Certificate Authority (CA) servers, ensure that enrollment and renewal of certificates perform as expected.Test Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) and ensure that line-of-business apps are not blocked. Ensure that WDAC functions as expected on your Virtual Machines (VM).Filesystem and logging:TheNTFileCopyChunkAPI was updated and will require internal application testing if directly employed. Test the validity of your parameters and issues relating to directory notification.I cannot claim to have anynostalgia for dial-up internet access (though I do have a certain Pavlovian response to the dial-uphandshake sound). For those who are still using this approach to access the internet, the November update to theTAPIAPI has you in mind. A quick (haha) test is required to ensure you can still connect to the internet via dial-up once you update your system.Windows lifecycle and enforcement updatesThere were no product or security enforcements this cycle. However, we do have the following Microsoft products reaching their respective end of servicing terms:Oct. 8, 2024: Windows 11 Enterprise and Education, Version 21H2, Windows 11 Home and Pro, Version 22H2, Windows 11 IoT Enterprise, Version 21H2.Oct. 9, 2024: Microsoft Project 2024 (LTSC)Mitigations and workaroundsMicrosoft published the following mitigations applicable to this Patch Tuesday.CVE-2024-49019: Active Directory Certificate Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. As this vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, we need to take it seriously. Microsoft has offered some mitigation strategies during the update/testing/deployment for most enterprises that include:Remove overly broad enroll or auto-enroll permissions.Remove unused templates from certification authorities.Secure templates that allow you to specify the subject in the request.As most enterprises employ Microsoft Active Directory, we highly recommend a review of thisknowledge note from Microsoft.Each month, we break down the update cycle into product families (as defined by Microsoft) with the following basic groupings:Browsers (Microsoft IE and Edge);Microsoft Windows (both desktop and server);Microsoft Office;Microsoft Exchange Server;Microsoft Development platforms (ASP.NETCore, .NET Core and Chakra Core);Adobe (if you get this far).BrowsersMicrosoft released a single update specific to Microsoft Edge (CVE-2024-49025), and two updates for the Chromium engine that underpins the browser (CVE-2024-10826andCVE-2024-10827). Theres a brief note on thebrowser update here. We recommend adding these low-profile browser updates to your standard release schedule.WindowsMicrosoft released two (CVE-2024-43625andCVE-2024-43639) patches with a critical rating and another 35 patches rated as important by Microsoft. This month the following key Windows features have been updated:Windows Update Stack (note: installer rollbacks may be an issue);NT OS, Secure Kernel and GDI;Microsoft Hyper-V;Networking, SMB and DNS;Windows Kerberos.Unfortunately, these Windows updates have been publicly disclosed or reported as exploited in the wild, making themzero-day problems:CVE-2024-43451: NTLM Hash Disclosure Spoofing Vulnerability.CVE-2024-49019: Active Directory Certificate Services Elevation of Privilege.CVE-2024-49039: Windows Task Scheduler Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability.Add these Windows updates to yourPatch Nowrelease cadence.Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft pushed out six Microsoft Office updates (all rated important) that affect SharePoint, Word and Excel. None of these reported vulnerabilities involve remote access or preview pane issues and have not been publicly disclosed or exploited in the wild. Add these updates to your standard release schedule.Microsoft SQL (nee Exchange) ServerYou want updates to Microsoft SQL Server? We got em: 31 patches to the SQL Server Native client this month. Thats a lot of patches, even for a complex product like Microsoft SQL Server. These updates appear to be the result of a major clean-up effort from Microsoft addressing the following reported security vulnerabilities:CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer OverflowCWE-416: Use After FreeThe vast majority of theseSQL Server Native Clientupdates address theCWE-122related buffer overflow issues. Note: these patches update the SQL Native client, so this is a desktop, not a server, update. Crafting a testing profile for this one is a tough call. No new features have been added, and no high-risk areas have been patched. However, many internal line-of-business applications rely on these SQL client features. We recommend that your core business applications be tested before this SQL update, otherwise add it to your standard release schedule.Boot note: Remember that there is a major revision toCVE-2024-49040 this could affect the SQL Server server side of things.Microsoft development platformsMicrosoft released one critical-rated update (CVE-2024-43498) and three updates rated as important for Microsoft .NET 9 and Visual Studio 2022. These are pretty low-risk security vulnerabilities and very specific to these versions of the development platforms. They should present a reduced testing profile. Add these updates to your standard developer schedule this month.Adobe Reader (and other third-party updates)Microsoft did not publish any Adobe Reader-related updates this month. The companyreleased three non-Microsoft CVEs covering Google Chrome and SSH (CVE-2024-5535). Given the update to Windows Defender (as a result of the SSH issue), Microsoft also published a list of Defendervulnerabilities and weaknessesthat might assist with your deployments.

The EU, which is now developing guidelines for how the regions new AI law must be complied with, has started collecting opinions in two areasvia an online survey.The first area involves how the law should define AI systems (compared to traditional software). Here, the EU wants to hear from people in the AI industry, companies, academics and civil society. The second area concerns when the use of AI should be prohibited. The EU wants detailed feedback on each prohibited use and is particularly interested in practical examples.Points will be collected using the survey until Dec. 11, and the European Commission expects to publish guidelines regarding the definition of AI systems and any prohibited uses in early 2025.

This article first appeared in The Checkup,MIT Technology Reviewsweekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first,sign up here.Every journalist has favorite topics. Regular Checkup readers might already know some of mine, which include the quest to delay or reverse human aging, and new technologies for reproductive health and fertility. So when I saw trailers for The Substance, a film centered on one middle-aged womans attempt to reexperience youth, I had to watch it.I wont spoil the movie for anyone who hasnt seen it yet (although I should warn that it is not for the squeamish, or anyone with an aversion to gratuitous close-ups of bums and nipples). But a key premise of the film involves harmful attitudes toward female aging.Hey, did you know that a womans fertility starts to decrease by the age of 25? a powerful male character asks early in the film. At 50, it just stops, he later adds. He never explains what stops, exactly, but to the viewer the message is pretty clear: If youre a woman, your worth is tied to your fertility. Once your fertile window is over, so are you.The insidious idea that womens bodies are, above all else, vessels for growing children has plenty of negative consequences for us all. But it has also set back scientific research and health policy.Earlier this week, I chatted about this with Alana Cattapan, a political scientist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Cattapan has been exploring the concept of women of reproductive agea descriptor that is ubiquitous in health research and policy.The idea for the research project came to her when the Zika virus was making headlines around eight years ago. I was planning on going to the Caribbean for a trip related to my partners research, and I kept getting advice that women of reproductive age shouldnt go, she told me. At the time, Zika was being linked to microcephalyunusually small headsin newborn babies. It was thought that the virus was affecting key stages of fetal development.Cattapan wasnt pregnant. And she wasnt planning on becoming pregnant at the time. So why was she being advised to stay away from areas with the virus?The experience got her thinking about the ways in which attitudes toward our bodies are governed by the idea of potential pregnancy. Take, for example, biomedical research on the causes and treatment of disease. Womens health has lagged behind mens as a focus of such work, for multiple reasons. Male bodies have long been considered the default human form, for example. And clinical trials have historically been designed in ways that make them less accessible for women.Fears about the potential effects of drugs on fetuses have also played a significant role in keeping people who have the potential to become pregnant out of studies. Scientific research has excluded women of reproductive age, or women who might potentially conceive, in a blanket way, says Cattapan. The research that we have on many, many drugs does not include women and certainly doesnt include women in pregnancy.This lack of research goes some way to explaining why women are much more likely to experience side effects from drugssome of them fatal. Over the last couple of decades, greater effort has been made to include people with ovaries and uteruses in clinical research. But we still have a long way to go.Women are also often subjected to medical advice designed to protect a potential fetus, whether they are pregnant or not. Official guidelines on how much mercury-containing fish it is safe to eat can be different for women of childbearing age, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, for example. And in 2021, the World Health Organization used the same language to describe people who should be a focus of policies to reduce alcohol consumption.The takeaway message is that its women who should be thinking about fetal health, says Cattapan. Not the industries producing these chemicals or the agencies that regulate them. Not even the men who contribute to a pregnancy. Just women who stand a chance of getting pregnant, whether they intend to or not. It puts the onus of the health of future generations squarely on the shoulders of women, she says.Another problem is the language itself. The term women of reproductive age typically includes women between 15 and 44. Women at one end of that spectrum will have very different bodies and a very different set of health risks from those at the other. And the term doesnt account for people who might be able to get pregnant but dont necessarily identify as female.In other cases it is overly broad. In the context of the Zika virus, for example, it was not all women between the ages of 15 and 44 who should have considered taking precautions. The travel advice didnt apply to people whod had hysterectomies or did not have sex with men, for example, says Cattapan. Precision here matters, she says.More nuanced health advice would be helpful in cases like these. Guidelines often read as though theyre written for people assumed to be stupid, she adds. I dont think that needs to be the case.Another thingOn Thursday, president-elect Donald Trump said that he will nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. The news was not entirely a surprise, given that Trump had told an audience at a campaign rally that he would let Kennedy go wild on health, the foods, and the medicines.The role would give Kennedy some control over multiple agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates medicines in the US, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which coordinates public health advice and programs.Thats extremely concerning to scientists, doctors, and health researchers, given Kennedys positions on evidence-based medicine, including his antivaccine stance. A few weeks ago, in a post on X, he referred to the FDAs aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and cant be patented by Pharma.If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you, continued the post. 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.Theres a lot to unpack here. But briefly, we dont yet have good evidence that mind-altering psychedelic drugs are the mental-health cure-alls some claim they are. Theres not enough evidence to support the many unapproved stem-cell treatments sold by clinics throughout the US and beyond, either. These treatments can be dangerous.Health agencies are currently warning against the consumption of raw unpasteurized milk, because it might carry the bird flu virus that has been circulating in US dairy farms. And its far too simplistic to lump all vitamins togethersome might be of benefit to some people, but not everyone needs supplements, and high doses can be harmful.Kennedys 2021 book The Real Anthony Fauci has already helped spread misinformation about AIDS. Here at MIT Technology Review, well continue our work reporting on whatever comes next. Watch this space.Now read the rest of The CheckupRead more from MIT Technology Reviews archiveThe tech industry has a gender problem, as the Gamergate and various #MeToo scandals made clear. A new generation of activists is hoping to remedy it.Male and female immune systems work differently. Which is another reason why its vital to study both women and female animals as well as males.Both of the above articles were published in the Gender issue of MIT Technology Review magazine. You can read more from that issue online here.Women are more likely to receive abuse online. My colleague Charlotte Jee spoke to the technologists working on an alternative way to interact online: a feminist internet.From around the webThe scientific community and biopharma investors are reacting to the news of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Its hard to see HHS functioning, said one biotech analyst. (STAT)Virologist Beata Halassy successfully treated her own breast cancer with viruses she grew in the lab. She has no regrets. (Nature)Could diet influence the growth of endometriosis lesions? Potentially, according to research in mice fed high-fat, low-fiber Western diets. (BMC Medicine)Last week, 43 female rhesus macaque monkeys escaped from a lab in South Carolina. The animals may have a legal claim to freedom. (Vox)