Yes, I apologize for using the incorrect label. iMessage is not end-to-end encrypted for most people.
The point I was trying to make still stands. The recovery options are a form of key escrow. They require a recovery code. As I'm sure you know, if you lose your device and forget the recovery code, then it's total loss – the HSM will reset after a fixed number of tries. People are plenty capable of doing that, and with a billion devices, some non-trivial number of them do it regularly.
Plenty of people lose their devices but I question how many simultaneously forget their screen lock code that they enter literally every day. Of course anything that is possible will eventually happen given enough users. But that doesn't come close to justifying denying the rest of us the option and marketing it as end-to-end encrypted despite that.
The point I was trying to make still stands. The recovery options are a form of key escrow. They require a recovery code. As I'm sure you know, if you lose your device and forget the recovery code, then it's total loss – the HSM will reset after a fixed number of tries. People are plenty capable of doing that, and with a billion devices, some non-trivial number of them do it regularly.