I suggest you watch some videos by Louis Rossmann on youtube to understand the problems with Apple's repair policies. The problem isn't with Apple certified repair shops, but with independent repair shops
Louis is not a good example, though. He is a very rare exception to the issue that Apple is fighting against.
Louis definitely knows his stuff and has the technical knowledge to repair devices and probably doesn't need to be certified in any way. The number of people that have the skills Louis does, though, is vanishingly small.
So, in his case, Apple is asking him to pay money every year to be certified in something that he likely already knows how to do and is not willing to send him parts to do the repairs he knows how to do. That's a reasonable position.
From Apple's perspective, though, Louis is the exception and they want everyone certified. To them, Louis can easily get certified and join their program and there's no need for them to not enforce the same policies for all repair shops.
The issue lies in the repair shops that don't have the skills that Louis does. Apple wants to make sure that repairs done by those people, who are in the vast majority, are done to a certain level of quality. It's the same reason why they replace full components instead of opting for board repairs like Louis is also able and skilled enough to do. For Louis's customers, they'd get a great repair and a reasonable cost. For everyone else, they'd get a subpar repair for the same cost.
Rossmann is great when he's going over some of the practicalities of running an independent repair business, but to get to those you have to go through a lot of videos slagging on Apple.
He does try to justify his vitriol, and it's obviously one-sided and he makes no bones about it. Apple, being a big corporation, won't provide a candid response to any of it.
So, agreed to the extent you'll definitely understand that repair shops are feeling the pinch and have a clear idea of why that's happening from their perspective. But you'll still be missing an understanding of the challenges a large manufacturer faces trying to run an authorized service provider program.
Every time Apple's repair policies come up on HN, someone mentions Louis Rossmann, and every time they do, someone replies (and it seems like a different person each time) pointing out that he has a significant bias against Apple, and to take what he says about them with a grain of salt.
All I personally know about it is what I've seen on here, but it does seem like it's worth being a little skeptical about what Rossmann has to say about Apple.
Internet logic: 1. Escape from North Korea. 2. Start YouTube channel documenting abuses of NK. 3. Get accused of bias for being "anti North Korea". 4. Anti-NK-escapee campaign gains steam 4. Get banned from all platforms for hate speech.
Personally I always root for the underdog, they have less resources so it's harder for them to fabricate information.
I mean, he makes a living out of repairing Apple products even though he's not certified. He might have an innate bias against them for whatever reason, but as someone who is interested in tech but not an Apple user the stuff he says about Apple makes sense to me and doesn't seem biased in order to make them look bad.
> it's worth being a little skeptical about what Rossmann has to say about Apple
Sure, just like it's good to be a little skeptical about what anyone say.
Rossmann isn't a liar though, what he say about Apple is right. You may thing he avoid saying positive things about them (but I did hear him say plenty of positive things about them) but that doesn't make what he say about Apple false.
Rossmann admits when he is wrong (the best example was recently on the legal case about some other independent repairer, where he changed his stance to Apple's side, when he learnt more details).
And he actually praises Apple quite a bit as well, in areas where he thinks they do well, such as their trackpads.
I disagree. Louis still hasn't admitted or updated several videos where he flat out says something wrong or misdiagnoses an issue. Case in point, people still cite his video "proving" that the new MacBook Pros have broken WiFi adapters as "evidence" that Apple has started using cheaper adapters to squeeze more money out of people. The reality is that they're still using the same adapters but that Louis was using an unshielded USB-A to USB-C adapter during that test which interfered with the WiFi signal. He's never issued a follow-up or clarification video even after he discovered that everything worked as intended with a normal, shielded USB adaptor. Reddit users even called him out on it because all Dell laptops with USB-C ports had the same issues when using these cheaper, unshielded cables.
Louis definitely knows his stuff and has the technical knowledge to repair devices and probably doesn't need to be certified in any way. The number of people that have the skills Louis does, though, is vanishingly small.
So, in his case, Apple is asking him to pay money every year to be certified in something that he likely already knows how to do and is not willing to send him parts to do the repairs he knows how to do. That's a reasonable position.
From Apple's perspective, though, Louis is the exception and they want everyone certified. To them, Louis can easily get certified and join their program and there's no need for them to not enforce the same policies for all repair shops.
The issue lies in the repair shops that don't have the skills that Louis does. Apple wants to make sure that repairs done by those people, who are in the vast majority, are done to a certain level of quality. It's the same reason why they replace full components instead of opting for board repairs like Louis is also able and skilled enough to do. For Louis's customers, they'd get a great repair and a reasonable cost. For everyone else, they'd get a subpar repair for the same cost.