--- title: U.S. Drops Case to Force Apple to Unlock iPhone description: The Justice Department on Friday unlocked an iPhone and dropped a court case asking Apple to help them unlock the device canonical: https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-23T16:03:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:46:02.577Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. Drops Case to Force Apple to Unlock iPhone og:description: Authorities were able to unlock the phone after its owner revealed the passcode og:url: https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Drops Case to Force Apple to Unlock iPhone twitter:description: Authorities were able to unlock the phone after its owner revealed the passcode twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # U.S. Drops Case to Force Apple to Unlock iPhone ## Video: Know Right Now: FBI Unlocks San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: FBI Unlocks San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HHCTwZr7.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2016-03-29_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 23, 2016 4:03 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 23, 2016 4:03 PM UTC The Justice Department [dropped a court case asking Apple to help them unlock an iPhone](http://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-prosecutors-drop-court-case-to-force-apple-to-unlock-iphone-1461377642?cb=logged0.3194766904284374) after its owner came forward with the passcode, a potential blow to the department in its [ongoing battle](http://time.com/4286883/justice-department-apple-brooklyn-iphone/) with Apple over encryption and privacy Prosecutors said the phone’s owner, who was arrested as part of a drug investigation, suddenly remembered the passcode and provided it to authorities, who were then able to unlock the phone, the Wall Street _Journal_ reported. “Late last night, the government used that passcode by hand and gained access to the iPhone,” prosecutors wrote in a letter filed with a Brooklyn federal court Friday, according to the _Journal_. “Accordingly, the government no longer needs Apple’s assistance to unlock the iPhone, and withdraws its application.’’ The dropped case is a blow to any Justice Department efforts to set a legal precedent in favor requiring companies cooperate with authorities in unlocking encrypted devices. The resolution of this case follows the department’s [other high-profile suit](http://time.com/4242709/apple-fbi-encryption-new-york-san-bernardino/) against Apple over a phone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, another instance when authorities were [ultimately able to unlock the phone](http://time.com/4275828/how-to-tell-who-won-the-fight-between-apple-and-the-fbi/) without Apple’s assistance. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/"},"headline":"U.S. Drops Case to Force Apple to Unlock iPhone","datePublished":"2016-04-23T16:03:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:46:02.577Z","description":"Authorities were able to unlock the phone after its owner revealed the passcode","url":"https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/","keywords":["Technology","Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/technology/","name":"Technology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/","name":"U.S. Drops Case to Force Apple to Unlock iPhone"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: FBI Unlocks San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HHCTwZr7/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-29T15:22:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HHCTwZr7.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4305708/prosecutors-drop-case-apple-locked-iphone/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```