Yes, that's my point. The article had to use a once-in-a-lifetime/millenium global pandemic to make its point.

Emergencies happen. Were inappropriate or flawed repairs ever a significant problem? Are there other solutions to that problem? Could there exist a third-party repair service or parts manufacturer competent enough to be authorized? Even besides an emergency, is the measure worth, say, severe delays to or even the impossibility of getting a repair somewhere that's disadvantaged either by being too far away from official services or by economics?

And why couldn't this be a post hoc PR rationalization for what just as well could be profiteering?

Now apply all those questions to the far less life-threatening concern of smartphones and laptops.

>Were inappropriate or flawed repairs ever a significant problem? Are there other solutions to that problem? Could there exist a third-party repair service or parts manufacturer competent enough to be authorized?

Yes, and they continue to be. Potentially, but no manufacturer, Apple or otherwise, has found one. Yes, but not at the scale that Apple operates. That's why Louis Rossman is a shyster. He has skills that are very rare but peddles his right to repair schtick as if every repair shop has those skills and then misrepresents the situation to create drama to drive engagement to his business and YouTube channel.