Crabby Apple Fans Unimpressed by Macworld

Updated from 3:51 p.m. EST

Steve Jobs may or may not be on the mend, but Apple (AAPL Quote) is suddenly looking a little anemic.

The hotly anticipated Macworld show revealed three new developments, but taken as a whole, the event failed to heat up enthusiasm for Apple shares Tuesday.

What Apple delivered at the annual product presentation in San Francisco was an upgraded iLife and iWork software suite, a $2,800 Macbook Pro notebook and new pricing on iTunes. What many investors and Apple fans wanted to see was a token appearance by CEO Jobs, a flashy new netbook and a nano iPhone.

Expectations tend to run a little high going into these events. The company had forewarned its fans that Jobs would not be the keynote speaker, handing the duties to marketing chief Phil Schiller instead.

Scratching Jobs of course set off renewed speculation about the CEO's health. And on Monday, Jobs ended his silence on the matter and said he is receiving treatment for a "hormone imbalance" and expected to regain some weight by spring.

All that said, there was some anticipation that Jobs would make a brief showing -- live or remotely -- offering a little thumbs up to the so-called Apple community. But it never came to pass. Apple shares slid 1% immediately after the show closed as investors found little to sink their teeth into.

After dedicating the first hour of the 90-minute presentation to software, Schiller unveiled a slim but massive 17-inch screen MacBook Pro with a hefty price to match. The $2,800 notebook was the only hardware featured in the show. It was also way off the mark for those who had expected Apple to bring its design prowess to the hottest computer category of the moment: the $600-and-under mini-notebooks or netbooks.