The issue is that if you break one HSM, you get the ability to bruteforce thousands (millions?) of users' PINs, without their knowledge. You could bruteforce so

The issue is that if you break one HSM, you get the ability to bruteforce thousands (millions?) of users' PINs, without their knowledge. You could bruteforce someone's PIN ahead of time, then acquire their phone knowing you can get at the data with zero risk. Getting the phone first then figuring out how to break into it is a lot trickier. I do in fact trust the SEP more than I trust cloud HSM, because the SEP is an Apple design, and the HSMs they use, as far as I know, are third-party.