The backdoor exists on new hardware, too; the firmware of the secure enclave can be updated in place by Apple without expunging key material.

Even if you close this one backdoor, others exist; the fact is you can only pick two of:

- Platform DRM.

- Implicit Trust of Vendor-Signed Software & Entitlements.

- Robust Security Ecosystem.

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's only ever used responsibility, there are serious, dangerous backdoors.

On the other hand, law enforcement's "backdoor" requires judicial review in the light of day.

I'd take the DoJ's precedent in this case over Apple's any day of the week.

If the DoJ/FBI then tries to shove pre-emptive crypto backdoors from congress, that's a different battle, and one I'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.