Comment by joel_liu

This case is a significant real-world validation of Lockdown Mode's effectiveness against state-level forensic capabilities. What's particularly noteworthy is that CART (the FBI's Computer Analysis Response Team) couldn't extract the device - not that they partially succeeded or got metadata. This suggests that even with physical access and federal resources, the combination of a powered-on device in Lockdown Mode created an insurmountable barrier.

For journalists covering sensitive topics, this demonstrates that Lockdown Mode isn't just theoretical protection against nation-state spyware - it's also practical defense against domestic forensic tools. The trade-off in usability (disabled JIT, limited iMessage features, etc.) seems worth it for anyone handling confidential sources.

The interesting question now is whether this will accelerate efforts to legally compel password disclosure, since the technical extraction route appears blocked.y