I knew some farmers who despised John Deere just as stated in the article. I can’t say I’ve had a problem with any of the Apple devices I’ve owned, I did with my Android though and that’s why I went to Apple. I’ve never required a repair, I try and put my devices in cases to extend their life. After 4-5 years I expect to replace them.

BTW, other car manufacturers like BMW do the same thing. They make independent dealers have to purchase expensive, specialized equipment to diagnose/repair their cars. Auto manufacturers make different fasteners for different applications and anyone who’s worked on cars knows that. It’s fun to blame Apple but what they are doing is not new.

Apparently few read the entire article. The issue of "Right to Repair" for autos was discussed in detail.
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This annoys me as well. Not bothering to read the article OR previous posts in the thread. I will admit I have missed things when reading through the thread.

Just today I took my 2017 Apple MacBook Pro to the Apple Store. I had been experiencing several difficulties with the keyboard. I decided I could repair the keys myself, so I ordered (from Amazon, natch!) a set of spudgers. When they arrived, I spent a few minutes exploring the feasibility of doing a self-repair (I'm not a novice in this department) and held off. I thought, "Maybe I should let an Apple tech diagnose it before I start digging into tight clearances."

Took it in to the store and after only a couple of minutes a tech introduced himself to me. I explained the problem and he said to give him a few minutes. I looked around the store for a bit, chatting with several of the staff, when the tech came up to me. "I can't fix the problem keys. It's going to require an entirely new top case, complete with keyboard, trackpad and touchbar. Retail price plus $75 labor: $428. Cost to me: $0.

Yes, Apple is covering the repair/replacement cost. On a computer that is nearly two years old. How can I complain about that?

And this isn't the first time Apple has stepped up. I have no reason to complain about the company or its products, which I've used for the past 43 years.

One detail that I did not mention in my complaint about a particular Apple store. The Air Pad was my daughter's, she bought it and did not get an Apple Care plan. I do not know if she was informed of one as she bought it at an reseller, not an Apple store.

As her financial situation was tight, I loaned her the money (actually my Amazon card) to get her replacement less what she was offered (plus a bit over) for her damaged one as a parts donor figuring that someone somewhere could fix it especially since the Apple store tech said that it was completely fried and no good and about two hours after I returned home and lifted the lid it came alive, the only problem was that the charging port was inoperative. And that was the same thing the next morning when I took it to the independent repair facility.