Perhaps it’s all an elaborate ruse, fool the humans into a false sense of security, thinking the diagnostic tests and parts management systems are useless, and then…
…“Application Exception”. Nope, the Apple internal service tools really are just that shite.
Perhaps in the future they’ll be advanced enough to automate the process, but as of today, they have a long way to go.
But honestly, I don’t think the immediate threat is automation of repairs. It’s in automation of process. There are so few repairs that can be performed to a modern Apple notebook. The Logic Board, SSD, Memory and Wireless Controller are often integrated into a single board, and the Top Case, Battery, Keyboard and Trackpad are integrated into a unified assembly, leaving perhaps a Display and some connectors as the only discrete components left for replacement. Eventually, the entire computer may be considered a single, replaceable unit.
So the immediate threat isn’t whether a robot could do my job, but whether my job could be abolished before robot automation needs to become an option at all.