Tim Cook to self: “Humm, how can I get tons of free publicity like I did when I refused to help crack Syed Farook’s (the San Bernadino terrorist) cell phone...?”
Why, you want a no-warrant gov’t backdoor to all your data?
In fact, I’d go further and say that the San Bernadino Syed Farook cell phone was Tim Cook’s SPARTICUS moment! LOL.
Sigh. Apple Complied with every legal search warrant, handing over Syed Farook's Apple iCloud data. Apple VOLUNTEED to help unlock the iPhone 5c that was found in the car following the terrorist attack, but the local authorities and the FBI said "No, thanks, we can do it ourselves." and proceeded to change the AppleID on the iPhone which would have allowed Apple to unlock it.
The FBI then DEMANDED that Apple design and give to the FBI a new iOS version that would unlock ALL iPhones, so they could install it on the target iPhone. They impermissibly (read illegally) used what is called an All Writs Court Order to try to force Apple to do something that is outside their normal course of business, something an All Writs Court Order CANNOT BE USED TO DO. . . and the appellate court so ruled. . . following the law which was what they US Supreme Court had ruled on the use of All Writs orders. Apple is NOT in the business of writing custom operating systems. Never has been and never will be. They also cannot be compelled to write an OS that destroys the security of their products which is what the FBI was demanding they do.
Once the FBI and the County IT guy had changed the AppleID, it was locked.
Your claim that "Apple refused to help" is completely bogus because Apple volunteered to help which was stupidly rejected.
The entire thing was a ploy by the FBI to get Apple forced to provide a backdoor access to ALL iPhones. The FBI knew there was nothing on that iPhone because the terrorists had destroyed the burner phones they had been using for their plotting as well as their laptops. The only reason they would NOT destroy his work iPhone was there was nothing on it of probative value, which is what they found when, months later, after expending a million dollars with an Israeli company, they unlocked it and found only work related data and a couple of texts of the "stop and buy milk on your way home" variety from his terrorist wife. Nothing more.