Alledgedly, the FBI already has the information (via iCloud backup), or at least had access to the information before an FBI made error.
In any case, Apple has already been known to comply requests to hand over data on an iPhone. If it were simply the case they needed the information, Apple may have done the whole thing behind closed doors.
The FBI decided to bring this case out into the open, and given the reports about even more phones that need to be cracked open, you have to consider that this may have been a move made to force Apple's hand.
I can imagine Apple handing over the information only...