In a surprise to no one; the FBI doesn’t need Apple’s help hacking iPhones. So the San Bernardino iPhone case that it has been publicly fighting with Apple over is mute. The case will go no further. We know this because a court filing made on Monday afternoon says that the FBI maintains that it was not only trying to get Apple to help. In fact it was trying to access the iPhone in other ways. The FBI said that it has been trying to receive assistance from sources outside the U.S. government. Seems one of them was fruitful. The court filing says the following.
On Sunday, March 20, 2016, an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking Farook’s iPhone. Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook’s iPhone. If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple Inc. (“Apple”) set forth in the All Writs Act Order in this case.
So basically the Department of Justice found someone else from the jailbreak community to help it get what it wants out the of iPhone. Of course Apple would like to know who that is and what they plan to do with the phone. However, we all know that the DOJ will never tell them. Should the Justice Department pursue the case it will have to share that information. Apple is in no way under any obligation to help the DOJ get into the phone anymore.