[ColdOne]

BS , Apple caved. FBI promised to not make them look bad.........yep this was all kabuki theater.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Yep. And many will fall for it, even here : )

[Cyman]

I like your explanation “ kabuki theater” much better

[marktwain]

Perhaps it was kabuki theater of a different sort.

All the energy was put into showing how hard the iphone was to break into.

That might convince some jihadis to use iphones.

Getting more jihadis to use iphones might have been the primary purpose.

[Rashputin]

I figure a big lawsuit that made plenty of noise was the price Apple wanted to crack the phone when the FBI first took it to them.

The phone records are worth far less now than when the news the phone was locked came out. It's also possible someone cracked the phone right away but it's in the best interests of both Apple and the government to make sure no one figures that out.

Either way, Apple got what they wanted, the FBI got what they wanted, the rubes got a dog and pony show, and 95% of the rubes are still in the dark with regard to the fact that the killer had a government job in spite of all the warning signs that should have kept him from being allowed into the country in the first place.

IOW, par for the course.