The diagnosis of the first repair case is a Macbook Pro that has had liquid spilled in its internals. [0] From a business and service perspective, Apple repair

The diagnosis of the first repair case is a Macbook Pro that has had liquid spilled in its internals. [0] From a business and service perspective, Apple repair must first fix the liquid damage that may be causing the dim screen. Replacing the screen without first fixing the liquid damage may simply reproduce the issue and/or damage a new screen. The customer balks at the quoted price asks the Apple Genius Bar rep if there are other options. The Genius Bar rep hesitates and informs the customer there are no other options under Apple repair. Of course there are other options outside of Apple authorized repair, but it is likely against Apple policy to recommend an alternative (i.e. assuming indirect liability for poorly executed 3rd-party repairs). That said, in this case it seems entirely reasonable for Apple repair to proceed by first fixing the most obvious damage that may be causing the issue. While this approach may be more expensive than is necessary, it's also more likely to produce the desired result if the issue were not caused by the screen itself. Paying money for premium service is anathema to many consumer advocates, but Apple is well known to meet their obligations for devices protected by AppleCare while only doing the bare minimum for devices outside of warranty. From a practical standpoint, buying AppleCare is highly advisable given the likelihood of device failure inside of 3 years, the cost of repairing such failures, and (most importantly in my opinion) the extraordinarily high level of service Apple provides should something go wrong inside the warranty window. I apologize if all the above seems like bias toward Apple, which I readily admit. I have been a customer of Apple for nearly 40 years and while I have sometimes been disappointed with some of Apple's polices and products, I have almost always felt well-treated by Apple repair. [0] https://youtu.be/o2_SZ4tfLns?t=128 https://youtu.be/o2_SZ4tfLns?t=128 EDIT: Changes to penultimate paragraph to better highlight the value of AppleCare as a contractual service. Change "extraordinary" to "extraordinarily".