Yes, someone with Apple's signing key can write new firmware to the device which disables the auto-wipe and PIN retry lockout features, which is what the Feds a

Yes, someone with Apple's signing key can write new firmware to the device which disables the auto-wipe and PIN retry lockout features, which is what the Feds are asking for. Apple has never argued that it is impossible for this phone hardware with this OS version, which is why they're (correctly IMO) arguing that it would set incredibly bad precedent for a court to force Apple to create a tool to destroy their own security.