[CurlyDave]

...Brute force is only used when exploits do not allow cracking the phone...

My personal strategy is two fold:

1. Don't put anything incriminating on my phone, and

2. I don't do criminal acts.

While this is actually not a perfect defense against being accused, it is pretty good, and if I then back it up by updating to the latest version of iOS I am reasonably secure.

[ThunderSleeps]

I'm with you. I don't use banking apps. If someone wants to break in and read my emails or texts...I should probably apologize to them and buy them a beer. Heck, I've even jokingly said (while driving) that if the NSA et. al. is listening, I apologize for singing along with the radio...

In short, breaking into my phone wouldn't be worth the effort beyond seeing my slightly eclectic collection of humorous (to me anyway) memes.

However, given that it's Apple... I would expect the encryption to be top notch. I'd also expect there is a back door or two in there they could exploit if necessary. Perhaps one or more of these back doors has been compromised.