@MMS21 I suspect that apple didn't unlock the iphone for the FBI as they didn't follow the previous agreed on procedures where they make a payment and agree to not talk about the exchange to anyone (and it seems the FBI publicly made a demand in court and didn't want to pay).

As the wikipedia article mentions, apple was so incompetent with their security that the NSA was able to go to a third party and get it unlocked and probably for a bargain price compared to what apple usually charges.