I don't think the FBI ever really needed to get into the phone. They have all the metadata and they know he never used the phone for personal business. They are chasing a pig in a poke. I would love to get a FOI on what was on the phone for data. That being said I believe that the FBI always had at their disposal to get the data themselves. It's just an iPhone 5c so it does not even have the fingerprint deal yet. Also I think the FBI might have thought hey we might just throw Apple a bone and let them help us out so people don't think their protection is crap, which it probably is. Since Apple did not play nice the FBI is now saying, hey we got and guess what Apple security is crap. Poor Apple they are dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. One thing I do know is they now need to go back to square one with their security...