MacRumors

Apple's much-anticipated larger-screened iPad Pro will go on sale both online and in Apple retail stores on Wednesday, November 11, reports 9to5Mac. Apple has thus far remained tight-lipped on the tablet's release date, giving only a general November release timeline.

Previous rumors suggested the iPad Pro would go on sale in early November, perhaps during the first week of the month, but Apple's release plans can shift ahead of an important launch. It is not clear if the company will offer pre-orders for the device ahead of the Wednesday, November 11 launch date.

Along with the iPad Pro, Apple also plans to begin selling its accessories, the Apple Pencil and the Apple Smart Keyboard, on November 11, both online and in retail stores.

Pricing on the iPad Pro starts at $799 for the 32GB Wi-Fi only version and goes up to $1,079 for a 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard are sold separately for $99 and $169, respectively.

Apple's strict adherence to an environment of secrecy and privacy in regards to its software and hardware development has been suggested as a major blow to the company's potential for growth in the field of artificial intelligence. In a new article by Bloomberg, Apple was noted as a non-attendee at the Neural Information Processing Systems conference, an annual confluence of companies including Google and Microsoft where researches get together to discuss the progress and development of AI technologies.

In years past, Apple has attended the conference, but its emissaries were known to keep "a low profile" during the proceedings. In the midst of a mass sharing and celebration of discoveries and findings in the world of AI, many remain unsure of the Cupertino company's continued success in such departments if it remains attached to such strict secrecy rules. “They’re completely out of the loop," said Richard Zemel, a professor in the computer science department at the University of Toronto.

The biggest threat posed to Apple due to this level of secrecy, according to Trevor Darrell, managing director of a machine-learning research center at the University of California at Berkeley, is the barrier to entry it creates for graduate students fresh out of college. The stagnant environment and closed-off atmosphere inhibits the company's employees from interacting with the rest of the scientific community, an issue that most potential hires may not be entirely comfortable with.

“There’s no way they can just observe and not be part of the community and take advantage of what is going on,” says Yoshua Bengio, a professor of computer science at the University of Montreal. “I believe if they don’t change their attitude, they will stay behind.”

“The really strong people don’t want to go into a closed environment where it’s all secret,” Bengio says. “The differentiating factors are, ‘Who are you going to be working with?’ ‘Am I going to stay a part of the scientific community?’ ‘How much freedom will I have?’”

Earlier in the month, Apple acquired two artificial intelligence-related start-ups: VocalIQ and Perceptio. VocalIQ's natural language API hints at a more naturalistic version of Siri in the future, and even possible integration into the rumored Apple car project. Perceptio suggests the possibility of a more expansive and robust AI system for Apple, without the compromise of the company's in-depth privacy policies that pull Siri back from services like Google Now and Microsoft's Cortana.

All the same, Bloomberg's story suggests that despite Apple's enthusiasm to innovate in the artificial intelligence sector, the company could continue to lag behind in certain departments -- Apple Maps, for example -- due to its stances on secrecy and privacy.

Apple Store and Best Buy locations have begun selling the new fourth-generation Apple TV in the U.S. and first wave launch countries. Apple is also offering Personal Pickup in the U.S., while Best Buy is allowing customers who pre-ordered for in-store pickup to pick up their set-top boxes starting this morning as the stores open up for the day.

While Best Buy began accepting pre-orders for the new Apple TV on Monday, it originally listed November 4 as the date when customers would be able pick them up in stores. Several MacRumors readers who pre-ordered began receiving notices on Thursday night letting them know their purchases would be ready for pickup today, nearly a week early.

Apple retail stores around the world will also be offering the Apple TV, and in countries where October 30 has already rolled around, stores are already selling the new set-top boxes. Stores in the United States have been revamped overnight to feature advertising for the new Apple TV to coincide with the in-store launch.

Apple is also selling accessories like the new Apple TV Remote Loop and the SteelSeries Nimbus controller, and it also plans to begin selling the new Beats Pill+ speakers in its retail stores beginning today.

The new Apple TV, which includes features like a full App Store, universal search, Siri integration, and a touch-based remote control, is available in two configurations: 32GB and 64GB. The 32GB model is available for $149 and the 64GB model is available for $199.

Apple today seeded the first beta of OS X 10.11.2 El Capitan to public beta testers, just days after releasing the first beta to developers and just over a week after the public launch of OS X El Capitan 10.11.1.

The new beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store to those who are enrolled in Apple's beta testing program. Those wishing to join the program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website.

It's not yet known what improvements the latest update to OS X El Capitan will bring, but it's likely to include bug fixes, security enhancements, and performance improvements to address issues discovered since the release of OS X 10.11.1. Apple's release notes for the first developer beta asked testers to focus on Graphics, Wi-Fi, Calendar, USB, Notes, Photos, and Spotlight.

Customers who pre-ordered the Apple TV and opted for one-day shipping have begun receiving their devices in New Zealand, where it is just after 9:00 a.m. local time. Deliveries will begin soon in Australia and countries in Asia, before expanding to Europe and the United States.

Those who pre-ordered their Apple TVs on Monday can expect to begin receiving them at the end of this week and the beginning of next week, as not choosing one-day shipping largely offered delivery estimates of November 2 to November 4.

Apple's retail stores will also begin selling the Apple TV on Friday, October 30. The first customers in Australia should be able to pick up an Apple TV in the next few hours.

As customers begin receiving their Apple TVs, Apple has officially launched the tvOS operating system for the device to allow those with developer and review units to update to the publicly released version. Following the update to the official tvOS software, users are able to access the App Store and search function to locate and install apps on the device.

(Thanks, Scott!)

Apple's upcoming iPad Pro accessory, the Apple Pencil, will now ship with an adapter that will allow it to charge using a standard Lightning cable, reports 9to5Mac. The Apple Pencil, which has a Lightning connector on the end for charging, was originally designed to charge by plugging into the bottom of the iPad Pro.

With the adapter, which will fit over the Apple Pencil's Lightning connector, it will also be able to charge using a regular Lightning cable. This will expand the number of ways the Apple Pencil can be charged and it will alleviate concerns about potential damage to the Apple Pencil from being knocked or bent while plugged into an iPad Pro.

The iPad Pro appears to be on track for a launch in the first weeks of November. AppleCare employees and retail staff are currently receiving training on the new larger-screened tablet, with the training completion deadline set for November 6.

Apple's iPad Pro is the company's new flagship 12.9-inch tablet. It includes an A9X processor, 4GB RAM, and according to Apple, is as fast as many desktop class machines. Pricing on the iPad Pro starts at $799 for a 32GB Wi-Fi only model and goes up to $1,079 for a 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

The Apple Pencil, which allows for pressure-sensitive drawing on the iPad Pro, is a standalone purchase that will be available for $99. Apple is also selling a Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro, priced at $169.

Apple is asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn the 2013 U.S. Appellate Court ruling that found the company guilty of conspiring with publishers to inflate the prices of e-books, reports Reuters.

Apple's petition comes following the loss of a June appeal where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the guilty verdict and maintained Apple violated antitrust laws and colluded with five publishers - HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, and Penguin - to fix e-book prices and unreasonably restrain trade.

Apple in its petition said the June decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York contradicted Supreme Court precedent and would "chill innovation and risktaking."

"The Second Circuit's decision will harm competition and the national economy," Apple wrote.

Should the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the lower court's verdict, Apple will be forced to pay $450 million as part of a settlement with class action lawyers and state district attorneys, with $400 million of that amount earmarked for consumers. Apple reached the settlement in June of 2014 to avoid a lengthy damages trial, but the payout hinged on the outcome of the company's appeal.

Though Apple was found guilty, the company has maintained its innocence throughout the dispute. In its appeal, Apple said its efforts "kick-started competition" to deliver "higher output, lower price levels, and accelerated innovation."

Earlier this week, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 9.2 to developers, just under a week after the public release of iOS 9.1. As of today, Apple is also making iOS 9.2 available to its public beta testers.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple’s beta testing program will receive the iOS 9.2 update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on their iOS device.

Those who want to be a part of Apple’s beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to both iOS and OS X betas. Because iOS 9.1 was just released, it will likely be a month or more before we see the public release of iOS 9.2.

iOS 9.2 fixes several bugs in the operating system and it includes other under-the-hood enhancements. According to the release notes for the first beta, the Safari View Controller (the view of Safari you see within apps) is being updated with support for third-party Action Extensions that will let it more closely mirror the Safari app. It also includes options to reload content and request a desktop site, as in Safari.

Apple executive Eddy Cue sat down with CNN senior correspondent Brian Stelter this week to answer a wide range of questions about the new Apple TV, reiterating how Apple believes an app-based TV experience is the future.

Cue described the new Apple TV as an "add-on for most people," rather than a true cable-cutting experience, since channels such as ABC, CNN and WatchESPN still require authenticating with a cable or satellite TV subscription.

Stelter: "There have been rumors that Apple is going to get into licensing, actually financing TV shows, basically what Netflix and Hulu do today. Can you clear it up for us? Is that true?"

Cue: "We love working with our partners. We’re great at technology, and they’re great at creating content, and we think that’s a great partnership to have."

While still an "add-on," Cue said that the new Apple TV is a "much better experience" for consuming content compared to traditional cable or satellite TV. Cue said TV has historically been a "closed" ecosystem, but the new Apple TV changes that by allowing content providers to create interactive app-based experiences.

Stelter said that authenticating with a cable or satellite TV subscription remains a problem with the current TV experience, and Cue said those are areas where Apple can "continue to innovate" and "make better" through future software updates, but he also stressed that services such as HBO GO, Hulu and Netflix already have a one-tap subscription process.

The new Apple TV is available online now and launches in stores on Friday, October 30.