The FBI already has incredible insight into banking transactions. This would not be an extraordinary power for them.
The reason Apple is being defensive is because of Edward Snowden. Apple supplies smart phones to the WORLD. Putting on a strong front to the FBI is a PR boon for selling smart phones abroad. They don't want the rest of the world to make a trusted Android fork because they can't trust Google and Apple. They want them to trust and buy Apple products! Unlocking that smart phone would cost Apple billions in foreign purchase orders.
This has been my assumption from the start of this case too. Apple can't afford to lose China, if only for the purpose of avoiding negative quarterly growth reports. Becoming known by the Chinese to be hackable by the FBI, wouldn't go over well there.
Not to mention the (obvious, ugly) next step: every country in the world demands the exact same privileges the fbi get. And why shouldn't they?
This may not be avoidable. Even blackberry had to do this ([1], dozens more). But if anyone has strong enough market power to push governments towards privacy, it's apple.
Curious, what do you make of China's demands on Apple related to the "security" of iOS and the iPhone? Why do you believe this hasn't cost Apple billions in foreign purchases?
The reason Apple is being defensive is because of Edward Snowden. Apple supplies smart phones to the WORLD. Putting on a strong front to the FBI is a PR boon for selling smart phones abroad. They don't want the rest of the world to make a trusted Android fork because they can't trust Google and Apple. They want them to trust and buy Apple products! Unlocking that smart phone would cost Apple billions in foreign purchase orders.