Nope. Once this option will be there, a single-button iPhone cracker box with lighting connector will be available on aliexpress in cca 3 weeks.

It's reducing the complexity of decryption (from O(∞) to O(2^n)), so it's clearly a backdoor.

So what would you call it, a back gate? It still loosens the extant security measures, facilitating compromise. That's pretty backdoor-y in my book.

I don't have an iPhone so correct me if I'm remembering correctly but aren't they by default protected by a 4 digit numeric pin? A 4 digit numeric pin that a brute force attack can be used on is effectively no security/a backdoor imo.

There are escalating time limits on incorrect PIN attempts, which is also enforced in hardware by the Secure Enclave in A7 chips and above. This would mean even breaking a 4-digit pin code without that delay being removed would take a long time. Additionally the device may be set to wipe after 10 incorrect attempts.

Attempts | Delay

1-4: none

5: 1 minute

6: 5 minutes

7-8: 15 minutes

9: 1 hour

Source: https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf

Secure Enclave is _not_ hardware; despite being isolated from the main OS and CPU, it is still software-based and accepts software updates signed by Apple.

I believe the default on new installs is now 6, but options for a more complex PIN, either numeric or straight up alphanumeric, are available.

I use an alphanumeric password on all my iOS devices