Apple faced a challenging 2016

Apple had a tough 2016. Early in the year, the tech giant became entangled in a legal battle with the FBI over the company's refusal to help the agency unlock the phone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Apple argued that doing so would open a back door that would put other iPhone users at risk of privacy breaches. Apple also had a somewhat disappointing financial year with annual sales dropping for the first time since 2001, when the company released the iPod.  On the hardware si