Apple to U.S. court: We can't unlock new iPhones, even if we try

Apple slowly winning over those worried about personal security

Apple can't unlock a user's iPhone running recent software even if asked to do so by law enforcement, the company told a U.S. judge.

In a court brief filed Monday at the request of U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein, Apple said accessing a locked iPhone would be "impossible" on devices running iOS 8 or higher. However, the Cupertino company said it has the technical ability to access an iPhone running older software, which accounts for some 10% of devices, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The brief comes after a request by the U.S. Justice Department, which wants Apple to access the data on a locked phone — one that does fall into that 10% bracket — that the DOJ seized during an investigation. However, Apple claims that forcibly extracting data from the phone "could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers

Apple claims that forcibly extracting data from the phone "could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand," per the brief.

The details of the case in question remain under seal, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apple first claimed it could not decrypt a locked iPhone without the user's password when the company launched iOS 8 in September 2014.

"For all devices running iOS 8 and later versions, Apple will not perform iOS data extractions in response to government search warrants because the files to be extracted are protected by an encryption key that is tied to the user’s passcode, which Apple does not possess," a note in the privacy section of Apple's website reads.

Except for the most careful of users, though, there are still plenty of ways for a law enforcement agency can access a user's data, even on a locked iPhone. These include grabbing iCloud backup or iTunes backup, or forcing a user to give up a passcode or using a fingerprint for TouchID-protected iPhones. Since Apple's help is still required for some of these methods, the question once again largely boils down to what law enforcement agencies can and cannot ask Apple to do in order to access an iPhone.

The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, when Apple is expected to address the broader legal issues at hand.