It could be trivially done through technicalities. For example if the exploit was found on the motherboard prior to it being deployed in servers that would be

It could be trivially done through technicalities. For example if the exploit was found on the motherboard prior to it being deployed in servers that would be consistent with Apple's denial (not suggesting that's what happened here, but more as an illustration of how Apple being specific actually leaves more wiggle room than broad statements).