[heisenzombie]

It seems very unsurprising to me that Apple internally uses industrial tools and custom jigs and fixtures to repair iPhones. Right? Like, it would be super weird if they used low-cost hand tools.

So is the complaint here that in addition to making the parts available to purchase, and a rental program for the “industrial” gear, they should also have developed a parallel set of low-cost tools and procedures for the hobby/personal market?

I think that’s a red-herring. A home hobbyist would be better off going “great, thanks for the parts, I’m off to pay iFixit for some tools. Oh and now give us schematics and parts for when I work out how to do SMD rework”

(And for pro shops, the price quoted for those pelican cases strikes me as an absolute bargain, if they don’t already have tools they like better)

[Closi]

Yeah! It would be weird to me if Apple said the official recommended repair process was to use a domestic hand-dryer or a hot water bottle and a guitar pick.

[Brian_K_White]

"So is the complaint here that in addition to making the parts available to purchase, and a rental program for the “industrial” gear, they should also have developed a parallel set of low-cost tools and procedures for the hobby/personal market?"

No. It's that this is mostly a diversion that does nothing to address what someone actually needs to reapair a device, which is parts and for the software not to artificially brick the hardware. But it makes everyone else who don't repair things think that Apple is trying to be reasonable and cooperative while they're still not at all.