It doesn't have to mean any of that. As long as the 10 mistakes limit is enforced in software or in a separate chip that can be replaced without replacing the a

It doesn't have to mean any of that. As long as the 10 mistakes limit is enforced in software or in a separate chip that can be replaced without replacing the actual encryption key, it can be bypassed. Then it is a simple matter of simply brute-forcing the pin code. Since these are usually 4 digits, there's only 10000 possibilities, which is laughable to a brute force attacked.