Earlier today Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Executives Continue to Hold the Philosophy that Touch Screens Aren't Right, but Not Everyone Agrees." I was late getting the report out this morning because I was taken aback at how much negative press the Apple event was generating. The day after a Steve Jobs event and the press was buzzing about Apple for hours, days and weeks. The euphoria was like nothing that I've ever seen. Every event we were on the edge of our seat waiting for that gotcha moment when something cool would be announced or the 'One more Thing' would be uttered. Apple was on fire and everything Jobs touched turned to gold. Apple was toppling Microsoft and the world still didn't even see it coming. If was such an electifying era. Yesterday was yet another boring event. Today, there was hardly a story to read except for the negatives ones for the most part.

What made it worse was that Apple's event was coming after a successful Microsoft event. If anything I was more pumped hoping that Apple was really going to hit it out of the park with it's new MacBook Pro and new iMac. Oh ya, Apple was going to show Microsoft up and crush them with true innovation. Ouch. We got a TV app that no one outside the U.S will be able to use and a nifty tiny little modern F-Key bar replacement. And ….. well, that's it. That's what we waited four and a half years for.

The back to back events seemed to show that one company was damn hungry to innovate and win back their market while the other show was slow and too focused on a single new feature that didn't impress most. Maybe in the long run it will. But on the surface without the 'Touch Bar' extending to the iMac's keyboard and more new things to get excited about, it was deafening how small that single innovation felt like.

MIT was first up to kick Apple today with a report titled "Microsoft Is Looking Like the New Apple." The report stated that "This week, one giant technology company looked like an innovator, launching a sleek new suite of forward-looking hardware to help media professionals work more effectively. Another added a row of buttons to an existing computer. In the past, Apple would have been the former—for the moment, at least, that role has shifted to Microsoft."

The report further noted that "At an event in New York on Wednesday, Microsoft unveiled the sleek, futuristic-looking Surface Studio: a 28-inch all-in-one PC that converts into something akin to a digital drafting table. Reclined at about 20 degrees, it can be used with a dedicated stylus and so-called Surface Dial—a small puck that adds a mechanical means of interacting with the touchscreen.

Microsoft also launched a new set of tools to create art in 3-D, which the company imagines people will view using its HoloLens. Or, perhaps, a VR headset, given that Microsoft also made good on its promise to help make the devices ubiquitous. It's been working with HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer, and promised that all will soon all ship VR headsets for $300.

Apple, meanwhile, showed off its latest hardware offering on Thursday: an updated version of its MacBook Pro laptop. With—drum roll, please—a new row of buttons. They are, admittedly, very smart buttons. Actually a slim second screen, they adapt depending on which program is being used, and there's also Apple's fingerprint-sensing Touch ID built in to enable login, payments, and other secure operations.

More important than price is what the announcements signal about what the companies are trying to achieve. Microsoft is now attempting to push the boundaries of what computing looks like, by trying to change the way we interact with desktop devices and providing the tools for us to become more involved with the virtual world.

Apple, meanwhile, appears to be stuck in a rut. As we've explained before, it seems to be struggling to look far beyond its existing products. Instead, it's simply adding new features to already successful devices rather than reinventing our relationship with technology."

Over at BGR, they posted a report titled "Developers and creative pros are blasting Apple's new MacBook Pro." The report tore into Apple by stating that "Apple's new MacBook Pro has created quite a stir in the Mac community, with many developers and creative professionals expressing outrage and frustration that Apple has seemingly created a Pro machine that is decidedly underwhelming and watered down.

Apple pissing off the pro community is an especially interesting dynamic because, as many seasoned Mac observers can attest, Apple managed to survive some of its darker days in the early to mid 90s precisely because the Mac was the computer of choice for a wide swath of creative professionals."

Business Insider took a shot at Apple today in a report titled "For crying out loud, Apple, just build a touchscreen Mac already." The report concluded "It's time for Apple to take the next step, swallow its pride, and join the PC world in offering a laptop with a touchscreen that's actually useful."

The Next Web posted a report titled "All the disappointments from Apple's MacBook Pro event." The report noted that "Apple announced a refresh of its MacBook Pro line-up yesterday, and aside from one major feature, it was mostly an iterative update.

That's disappointing, given how long it's been since Apple last overhauled the design and hardware of its flagship laptop. Plus, it was just the previous day that Microsoft stunned the tech industry with its innovative Surface Studio, which represents the company's forward-thinking approach to computing.

Ultimately, it's clear that this is not Apple's finest hour. The company did its best to talk up its new products on stage yesterday with flashy visuals and fancy voiceovers, but the wishy-washy presentation only served to expose Apple's inability to innovate as it once did."

Forbes posted a report titled "Apple's New MacBooks: Out Of Touch Or Just In Time?" MacDailyNews picked this story up and retitled it "Apple Will Remain Loyal lto the Mac until Mac users Die Off." There was a lot of anger from some. One comment on the report was as folllows:

lol…"Apple will remain loyal to the Mac until Mac users die off"

Apple is killing the Mac Users… they are not waiting for them to die off….

Nowhere is this more evident than in what Apple choose to call PRO… in all their devices! Its a shame, its a Huge and Disastrous Mistake.

I hope i am proven wrong when the next iMacs and Mac Pros are released… way sooner than later….. hell its already way late….

Wake-up Apple… you are losing your core reputation and followers…… next thing you know no one will give a shit anymore.

Where is all that R&D money going?….. jet black? two cams? touch strip? they Ignore battery case? the pencil that never stays with its device and is missing elementary functions. ..with the most stupid charge solution?. mouse with weird charge port?

No Pro products?……..10 billion$ plus r&d and growing and growing… for fashion? and Apple Dogma? Where is the Wonder ? the wonder we all loved.

Of all the events I've seen, this one seemed to set a lot of people off. After watching the Microsoft event the day before I was really pumped for the Apple Event yesterday thinking Apple would outshine Microsoft hands down. Unfortunately when I saw Cook winding down the event I was thinking, really, that's it?

For many pros, as we've shown in this report, the event was a real let down. A sign that after four and half years the Pros got left behind. They see Tim cook and gang pushing all things iOS. Cook said to the Telegraph in 2015, "Why do you need a PC anymore?" Some feel that after seeing Apple's only move in four and half years being so anemic, that the writing for Pros is on the wall.

Remember that it was Steve Jobs who set Apple on this path; who set this mentality down playing PC's or Mac's as trucks in a world of cars. It's no longer a mass product, move on. But for Pros, those that were the ones who kept Apple afloat when they were about to go under, the most loyal of the loyal, now feel slighted and yesterday's event didn't impress them in the least. Microsoft's focus on the creative pro community is unique because they're really tapping into the Mac communities core and appealing to them. They just might win that niche if they stay committed to this group as Apple focuses on all-things iOS.

Yet I still believe there's one more event to come in the first half of 2017 with updates to the iMac, Mac Pro and more. Apple was likely waiting for the new i7 core processors for desktops that got pushed back by Intel. Apple's next event could be the home run we were hoping for yesterday and it could be a way to end that doubt that's lingering in the pro community that Apple just doesn't give a damn about them anymore.

Writing about Apple's patents every week, I'm able to see so much innovation on the drawing board. So to those that felt let down by yesterday's event, keep the faith and wait for Apple's next event for the heavy hardware to come. I think the air will be recharged and the fire in-their-belly return.

Will that really come to be? I believe it could. If I'm wrong, then the fall out that we've witnessed over the last 24 hours will exponentially explode and it could push Apple's pro community to call it quits and jump ship. Today we've heard just a few testimonies that it's already begun. But it could just be the tip of the iceberg. I hope the captain makes the right call soon.

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