I guess you’re missing the whole point... it’s not that Apple can’t, it’s just that they don’t want to as it sets a worryingly bad precedent and as Tim Cook put it “government overreach”. It’s more of a stand that Apple’s taking and if any company could stare the US govt in the eye, it’s probably them. This is from…

After which, you have our solemn word, we promise to discard this custom OS and would never, ever dream of using it again. Or, wait, we’ll send a copy to every FBI office and major police jurisdiction, and tell them to only use it when it’s really important (their call) and keep secure when they’re not using it (a…

That is the core of the request.

Make us a backdoor so we can look at this one phone.

Apple deliberately avoided making any way to circumvent a phones encryption. There is no “back door” to get around the encryption because by definition, such an opening would pose an immediate and severe vulnerability.