Tim Cook immediately addressed the elephant in the room at Apple's event

Robert Galbraith/Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook started off the company's product launch by addressing the company's fight with the FBI and thanking its customers for its outpouring of support. 

Some wondered if he'd actually address the matter, or if he'd go straight into announcing the new products. But Cook got straight to it.

"We did not expect to be in this position, at odds with our own government, but we believe strongly that we have a responsibility to help you protect your data and protect your privacy," Cook said. "We owe it to our customers and we owe it to our country."

The company has been locked in a battle with the FBI over access to an iPhone used by the San Bernardino terror suspect Syed Farook. The government is asking Apple to break its own encryption to unlock Farook's iPhone, but Apple's stance from the beginning has been that breaking it even once opens the door for misuse and abuse by governments and others.

"This is an issue that impacts all of us, and we will not shrink from this responsibility," Cook concluded.

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