Monday's Apple event wasn't the most interesting because it had bigger things on its mind
interview earlier last month with ABC News, Tim Cook admitted that this battle has been one of the hardest he has faced as Apple's CEO.
After all, the case has put the company at odds with the government and presents very real PR challenges. The company is clearly uncomfortable in the position it is in now. "We did not expect to be in this position, at odds with our own government," Tim Cook said at the event.
But what can you do? The show must go on.
The show went on, but with less of a bang
And the show did go on. Apple showed off its latest products. It dazzled the crowd with LIAM, a 29-armed robot that helps with the company's environmental efforts.
But even that initiative, which has clearly been in the works before the FBI case, had an intersting tone.
Ahead of the hearing, Apple was taking the opportunity to show off a project that illustrates its commitment to the environment and sustainability.
Apple also spent a considerable amount of time focused on Research Kit and its new Care Kit framework for improving healthcare.
I'm certainly not questioning Apple's commitments to these issues — it's something the company has focused on very clearly for several years.
But it probably didn't hurt that the overall message from the event was less about the products and more about a broader message of the core values the company wants the public to associate with it.
It almost seemed as if the company was saying, "there are things more important than new gadgets" — highlight privacy, the environment and health research as some of them.
Of course, that stuff isn't necessarily sexy. Especially for tech geeks.
A post-event reprieve
On Tuesday, Apples was supposed to face off against the U.S. Department of Justice before a Judge in the Central District of California. But less than 24 hours before the hearing was scheduled — about 45 minutes after Apple's product event ended — the Department of Justice filed a motion to postpone the hearing.
Apple didn't object and the judge agreed. Whether or not the case continues will depend on whether an outside party that offered the FBI assistance can successfully get into the iPhone belonging to the gunman.
Now, the case is not over — not by a longshot. The Department of Justice has until April 5 to file a status update with the court. If the outside party cannot provide access to the shooter's iPhone, Apple could wind up back in court fighting the same battle it was supposed to fight Tuesday.
Moreover, the overriding issue at stake in the San Bernardino case is not going to go away. The government is also seeking Apple's assistance in a similar but unrelated case in New York. In that case, one judge has already ruled in Apple's favor but the prosecutor has appealed to a higher court judge.
And this issue over whether the government can compel private companies to offer backdoors to its products in the name of national security is going to be something we discuss long after the public forgets about the newest features in the 4-inch iPhone.
Still one for the books
It's for all of those reasons that I still think this will be one of Apple's most memorable keynotes. It's just we won't think about the products Apple announced — but the circumstances that surrounded that announcement.
For me, Monday's event was a look at how one of the world's most powerful companies presents new products to the public against a backdrop of a fierce debate of security, privacy and public policy.
So no. Maybe the products Apple launched weren't that interesting. But the circumstances in which they were launched sure were.