That's not a subsidy - in the normal course of business the deposit is returned and no money changes hands.
The deposit is just an insentive to return the goods, it can cover 30% or 300% of the value. The tools might not be returned, and that probably is a crime, but that's not a subsidy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/uuocl3/the_verge_...
To confirm it, here's all the Apple Tools listed for the iPhone 12 Battery Replacement. All costed at $1086.96.
# Apple Tools
$49.00 [7-Day Rental] iPhone 12 Tool Kit (Part RKIT-12) [Rental Information]
$0.65 Back Protective Cover (Part 923-04877)
$0.65 Display Protective Cover (Part 923-04878)
$0.70 Adhesive Cutter (Part 923-01092)
$2.78 Nylon Probe (Black Stick) (Part 922-5065)
$8.00 JCIS Bit (Part 923-0246)
$10.00 Super screw Bit (Part 923-02066)
$12.00 Micro Stix® Bit (Part 923-01290)
$13.33 Torx® Security Bit (Part 923-0247)
$29.50 Display Adhesive Press Plate (Part 923-04911)
$50.00 6.1-inch Repair Tray (Part 923-04908)
$80.00 Torque Driver (Green, 0.45 kgf cm) (Part 923-00105)
$85.00 Torque Driver (Gray, 0.55 kgf cm) (Part 923-00738)
$99.00 Torque Driver (Black, 0.35 kgf cm) Kit (Part 923-0248)
$108.00 6.1-inch Heated Display Pocket (Part 661-19620)
$115.00 Battery Press (Part 923-02657)
$216.00 Display Press (Part 661-08916)
$256.35 Heated Display Removal Fixture (Part 661-17619)And... I don't know, PR move or not, isn't it awesome that regular consumers can rent access to the full kit? I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to, but I'm sure someone is super excited, and good for them!
If I'd written the article at The Verge, I would have ended with something along the lines of:
> For most people, renting Apple's Tool Kit isn't worth the cost or hassle. If you don't have experience repairing electronics, the Apple Store is a safer and easier alternative, and if you do, you probably have your own tools already. It's great to see Apple selling genuine replacement parts to consumers. Just, don't throw out that iFixIt toolkit quite yet!
>The thing you should understand about Apple’s home repair process is that it’s a far cry from traditional DIY if you opt for the kit — which I did, once I saw the repair manual only contains instructions for Apple’s own tools. (You can just buy a battery if you want.)
The fact that they're subsidizing the tool kits (the $1200 deposit they take is nowhere near the value of all that equipment) also suggests that they wanted regular people to get their hands on these tools (and no doubt talk about it) as opposed to charging the actual market value which - while affordable for a repair shop - would've been way out of reach of a regular user.
After all, this kind of equipment is not new and has been available for ages (comments on another thread about this say that in China every phone repair outlet had similar equipment) if you could justify buying it, and yet we haven't had articles like this on major tech news websites until Apple subsidized it enough and put it in a nice, idiot-friendly package.