Re: Yes, you CAN remove the "non-volatile memory".
I will happily retract my expression of disappointment if K.M. will post specs on the specific "non-volatile memory" device in question (the device, not the phone) showing that the encryption mechanism is internal to the device package, and that the device itself keeps count of the number of attempts made, to access its (the chip's) internal contents.
Well, time to post that retraction then. There is no need for NVRAM to have the crypto internally as it only holds data and the problematic encrypted containers. The crypto chip is separate, which is the whole point - the crypto chip processes data before it gets to NVRAM so you can lift all you want from the NVRAM, it won't be of help other than being able to run through the whole AES256 keyspace to brute force crack it.
The crypto chip has a salt (crypto ID which is used to alter encryption) which is unique to each specific device, and it cannot be extracted as a factor as it is only ever seen as the result of encryption - this is what ties it to the device hardware. Data without that specific processor is useless. It will also hold the NVRAM "master key" which is randomly generated, and it is the combination of "baked-in-chip" + "master key" that will allow you to decrypt what is in NVRAM.
If you fail to enter the correct password for more than 10 times, the chip will drop the master key, which is pretty much equivalent to erasing NVRAM stored encrypted containers, but without spending the time rewriting every bit.
Now, Mr Expert, the first expertise you should focus in is how to use Google and read more comments because this is FAR from new. I know it is hard, but if you would bother to first research to resolve your own ignorance, it would save you from opening your mouth and confirming it. It would have also yielded the insight (visible in many posts) that The Register does indeed allow URLs for people who have been here long enough although granted, it could really do with an update on which tags are allowed, and probably make that a bit easier to find.