Apple is no doubt one of the most polarizing companies in the world. You either love 'em or hate 'em.

But regardless of which side of the fence you stand, you have to admit: Yesterday, the company changed the world once again.

At the special event, held in the Bill Graham Theater in San Francisco, the technology giant unveiled a larger, more powerful iPad, a new version of Apple TV, and the biggest upgrade to the iPhone in years.

And, of course, there’s that stylus.

Don’t be mistaken: Steve Jobs would have loved this stylus. In fact, he would have loved the entire event yesterday. This is the closest Apple has come to matching the extraordinary vision of the famous founding father since his unfortunate death four years ago.

In case you missed it live, here is how Apple changed the world:

1. Apple Watch's new OS and the iPad Pro are revolutionary.

Don’t get me wrong; the Apple watch and iPad are great products. But their value until now has been superficial.

That changed yesterday.

By showing us what WatchOS 2, Apple Watch’s new operating system, is capable of running, Apple gave us a glimpse into the future of medicine.

Dr. Cameron Powell, a doctor who left medicine in 2008 to focus on the development of a new app known as AirStrip, demonstrated how medical professionals can monitor the heart rate (and other vital signs) of an expecting mother and her unborn child using Apple Watch…all while the mother is sitting comfortably at home.

And what about the iPad Pro? It has a number of improved features, like a four four speaker audio system and a better functioning fingerprint scanner. But that's nothing, really.

What's amazing is the power this tool holds for learning and work. Just take a look:

With new partnerships, including those with Cisco, Adobe, and Microsoft (yes, Microsoft!), the future looks bright.

2. The Apple pencil has given a gift to the world of art.

Apple’s new product, known as “Pencil”, seems to go against one of Steve Job’s well known philosophies. Remember what he said back in 2007, when releasing the first iPhone?

“Who wants a stylus? You have to get ‘em and put ‘em away, and you lose ‘em…Yuch. Nobody wants a stylus.”

That's given rise to the headlines you'll find this morning, like “The Stylus Steve Jobs Warned Us About” and “Here’s Why Apple Made the Stylus that Steve Jobs Hated”. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Steve Jobs hated the idea of a stylus for a 3.5 inch phone. But he never saw a stylus like this one.

The world has changed in eight years. Steven Paul Jobs was an innovator. And this is innovation at its best. "When you're using the Pencil," says Apple's Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive, "the system scans twice as often, allowing iPad Pro to capture more points in a single stroke. Highly responsive sensors built into the tip of Apple Pencil work with the iPad Pro display to detect position, force, and tilt."

The result? The ability to produce light, dark, thin, and broad strokes. In the words of Ive: "It has a responsiveness that feels like a true writing or drawing instrument."

See for yourself:





Apple Pencil gives artists and designers everywhere an extraordinary new tool, and iPad Pro gives them the medium to do new and exciting things.

3. Apple TV will disrupt.

At first look, the new Apple TV doesn’t look like anything special. Integrating video games. Streaming TV. Haven’t we seen all of this before? (Note to fellow Gen-Xers: Isn’t Crossy Road just a glorified--not much better looking--version of Frogger?)

But there’s more than meets the eye. The new integration allows you to play the same games from your mobile device on your television—with your friends. It’s bringing the worlds of mobile and TV even closer together.

Or how about the partnership with major sports leagues? While watching a live event, you can get real-time stats and data—without ever interrupting the game.

As Apple CEO Tim Cook says, "The future of TV is apps."

By bringing together mobile, video games, and programming, and by partnering with Major League Baseball, Hulu, Netflix, HBO, and Showtime, Apple is showing us the future of television.

4.The new iPhone jumps curves.

If you truly want to be an entrepreneur and innovator, you have to jump curves. "You don't do things 10% better; you do things 10 times better", according to former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki.

But recent Apple events haven’t taken us anywhere new. For a while it seemed that Apple had lost its touch.

Yesterday’s iPhone release was different.

Sure, there were the expected improvements in speed and performance. And the new photography feature known as "Live Photos" is pretty cool: Whenever you take a photo, your iPhone camera records a second-and-a-half video before and after the actual picture. The thinking is: Photos are a snapshot of a moment in time, so why not extend that moment with an extra few seconds?

But the feature that really takes us to the next level is 3D touch.

3D touch utilizes a pressure sensitive screen that allows you to perform different actions depending on how hard you press. For example, press lightly to preview an email or a message (while not yet marking it as “read” if you want to delve into the details later). If you decide you want to deal with it now, press harder and open up the message.

Here it is in action:



This technology saves time, increases productivity and will make life easier.

Apple is not perfect. And Samsung (and other technology companies) have accomplished some amazing things in recent years. But if you look at yesterday’s event with an eye toward the future, you’ll be forced to admit one thing:

Apple has done it again.

Make sure not to miss my other article on Inc., which shares more of yesterday's details: Make No Mistake: Steve Jobs Would Have Loved Yesterday's Apple Event. Here's Why

I'm also curious to hear what you think. Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

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