Perhaps both the FBI and Apple had a chance at good PR for their causes, and the FBI had a chance to set legal precedent, so neither admitted that the FBI could

Perhaps both the FBI and Apple had a chance at good PR for their causes, and the FBI had a chance to set legal precedent, so neither admitted that the FBI could break in if needed. The idea that iPhones were inaccessible to highly-resourced attackers like the U.S. government seems unbelievable. Everything has security holes, even if they are expensive to discover or exploit; the U.S. government's resources are immense and the payoff - access to iPhones when needed - is clearly worthwhile. And in the end, when the PR debate had run its course, the FBI found a way in.