I think you missed the point of the piece, which was to reframe the issue in a very aggressive fashion. By pivoting away from the privacy angle to one that's focused squarely on national security, Apple is using the FBI's own canard against them. The fact that they're on such sold ground places the FBI in a vastly harder position to defend.

In Cook's initial letter he was so careful about stating his belief that the FBI's intentions wee good that he said so twice. That was the warning shot. This piece, from Federighi was a shot to the head.