Indeed, so it seems you can do without giving your password but apparently with a bit of pushing back. I saw the instruction of Apple to wipe your phone. It is

Indeed, so it seems you can do without giving your password but apparently with a bit of pushing back. I saw the instruction of Apple to wipe your phone. It is solid advice, but not sure what conclusion to draw from this. On one hand this is something you always want to do, no matter the security you have on your machine, in order to reduce potential attack vectors. This advice you will give even if your repair people have no access to the device. But I can also interpret is as advice because they will have access to your phone so better clean it before handing it in. Good to know we can refuse.