The backdoor exists on new hardware, too; the firmware of the secure enclave can be updated in place by Apple without expunging key material.<p>Even if you close this one backdoor, others exist; the fact is you can only pick two of:<p>- Platform DRM.<p>- Implicit Trust of Vendor-Signed Software &amp; Entitlements.<p>- Robust Security Ecosystem.<p>As long as Apple can push applications with arbitrary entitlements to devices, or encrypted OS updates unreadable by 3rd-parties, and no mechanisms exists to verify that it&#x27;s only ever used responsibility, there are serious, dangerous backdoors.<p>On the other hand, law enforcement&#x27;s &quot;backdoor&quot; requires judicial review in the light of day.<p>I&#x27;d take the DoJ&#x27;s precedent <i>in this case</i> over Apple&#x27;s any day of the week.<p>If the DoJ&#x2F;FBI then tries to shove pre-emptive crypto backdoors from congress, that&#x27;s a different battle, and one I&#x27;m happy to fight. However, siding with Apple now muddies the real issues at stake and may undermine our negotiating position when it comes to the general crypto debate.