But isn’t Apple saying it simply does not have the means to do so?
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What I heard on the radio news was that Apple refused because
it would not be fair to EVERYONE — ALL PEOPLE, who would all lose their privacy.
That is how they are trying to spin it, but according to what I read on this one website from a supposed expert is that the FBI offered to allow Apple to take complete possession of the phone and simply give them the unlocked Data. Apple would not have to share with anybody how they did it, not even the FBI.
Again in plain English, the FBI wants Apple to create a special version of iOS that only works on the one iPhone they have recovered. This customized version of iOS (*ahem* FBiOS) will ignore passcode entry delays, will not erase the device after any number of incorrect attempts, and will allow the FBI to hook up an external device to facilitate guessing the passcode. The FBI will send Apple the recovered iPhone so that this customized version of iOS never physically leaves the Apple campus.