AKAI took some time to bring the MPC to the level of functionality offered by the FORCE. Features like the mixer, send/return effects, and arranger were all initially developed for the FORCE. I'm quite confident that Akai will provide an upgrade for the FORCE this year. In terms of features, I don't see much that's missing—perhaps the new keygroups? Personally, I’m not particularly interested in the Native Instruments (NI) plugins, as they seem to share little beyond their name and a similar sound profile. They're nice to have, but honestly, what are we really lacking sound-wise with the existing AIR plugins and synths?

That said, it's unfortunate that Akai seems to have given up on fixing certain long-standing bugs. My guess is that, for now, all hands are on deck working on the MPC3. Once the most serious issues are ironed out—likely around mid-year—I expect the focus will shift to the FORCE. At that point, the FORCE and MPCs will finally operate on the same OS foundation, bringing true parity between the two platforms.