I don't buy your position that they would need to know any particular timeline. There was no particular hurry to open the iphone at this late date—two and a half months since the attack—and the data retrieved from Verizon showed there was little likelihood there was anything probative on it, anyway. Even FBI Director Comey testified to that probability to Congress. The FBI had to attest to the Court that they had exhausted all reasonable other alternatives before demanding an All Writs Act order. . . which they did. But it's now obvious that they did not. They signed a contract with Cellebrite four days AFTER they seized the iPhone. What's with that? Some reports indicate that the FBI has now signed a long-term contract with Cellebrite totaling $15 million just before unlocking the iPhone.
There is no "miracle" required, just a lot of companies rising to the challenge laid down to unlock an older tech iPhone. And sufficient time.
“I don’t buy your position that they would need to know any particular timeline.”
Well, it seem like they would have some sort of vague idea of how long it would take to grind Apple down in court, right? Years, months, days, or whatever, right?
Why do it unless you had no idea this other company could actually get it done faster? So you are saying they didn’t realize it was possible to do so fast or what?
Look, I am no expert in this case. I like that Apple fought this. I just think the how it played out in public doesn’t seem to make sense.
Freegards