President Barack Obama has been photographed numerous times using his BlackBerry phone. Many people believed that this is because he just loves his BlackBerry so much, and couldn’t care less for any other mobile phone.  But now he’s admitted, that’s not entirely true.

Before his inauguration in 2009, Obama was considered as one of the most tech savvy presidents in US history.  But since beginning his tenure as the United States’ leader, he’s noticeably been left out of the smartphone revolution.  In fact, he had to fight hard just to keep his crappy old BlackBerry, which was against the Secret Service’s wishes.

Obama may love his BlackBerry, but if given a chance, would he opt for an iPhone instead? Surely the iPhone 5 would be a lot more useful for someone look Obama than his dinosaur of a BlackBerry phone?  Perhaps, but while BlackBerry might not be as good as the iPhone anymore, it has one thing going for it that Apple’s gadgets don’t have – iron-clad security.

“I’m not allowed for security reasons to have an iPhone,” Obama said while speaking at an event to promote his health care initiative.

BlackBerry has been the go-to device of government agencies for years, as its platform is deemed secure enough for use by the president himself.  In 2011, the BlackBerry PlayBook was granted a FIPS certification, and before the BlackBerry 10 platform was launched, it was also given the same security certification.

Fortunately for Apple, the iPhone seems to be the only one of the company’s devices that the president is not permitted to use, as he’s known to be quite fond of his third-generation iPad and his 15-inch MacBook Pro.  Also, his daughters Sasha and Malia are fond of using their iPhones.

The government isn’t saying Apple devices or iPhones aren’t secure enough for government use, as some government agencies already allow their employees to choose what device to use, be it BlackBerry, Android or iOS.  But they’re just stricter when it comes to people residing in the Oval Office.

And it might not be long before Obama, or the next president, gets to carry an iPhone at last – as it may soon get the same kind of security clearance afforded to BlackBerry.  Earlier this year, iOS 6’s CoreCrypto Kernel Module v3.0 was granted a FIPS 140-2 certification – the lowest level of security.  The fact that it has received this level of security clearance, even if it’s a low level one, delivers bigger opportunities for Apple.

As for getting left behind in the tech revolution, Obama isn’t the only president who’s suffered.  Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were advised to not use email during their tenure, due to the risk of being hacked.