I didn't downvote but Cook's letter suggests that the backdoor needs to apply retrospectively to existing phones (not just future phones). Hence the parent pos

I didn't downvote but Cook's letter suggests that the backdoor needs to apply retrospectively to existing phones (not just future phones). Hence the parent post's suggestion that the argument is moot -- if Apple has the capability to retrospectively backdoor existing phones it would imply that Apple didn't secure it in a foolproof way in the first place.