There was a time Apple geniuses would recommend going to the 3rd party authorized repair shops because they could offer better and faster service, while still b

There was a time Apple geniuses would recommend going to the 3rd party authorized repair shops because they could offer better and faster service, while still being covered under warranty. There was a period where Apple was growing and the 3rd party authorized repair shops also were doing really well. It seems at some point Apple decided they wanted to bring everything in house, and that’s when these started drying up. Now it’s hard to get anything other than basic repairs done, and if it’s a phone, not come back with a replacement refurbished phone which is almost certainly in worse shape than the phone you took in.