Apple had argued that the government request and the court order were a massive overreach.
Four Silicon Valley companies including Apple and Google failed to persuade a US judge to sign off on a $324.5 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit by tech workers, who accused the firms of conspiring to avoid poaching each other's employees.
Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom apologised for a failure to "communicate our intentions clearly."
Judge noted that Apple had not presented enough evidence that its patented features drove consumer demand for the entire iPhone.