Apple got strong-armed into making this available. As to why they didn't create a hobbyist-grade tool for the self-repair program - all it would take is a coup

Apple got strong-armed into making this available. As to why they didn't create a hobbyist-grade tool for the self-repair program - all it would take is a couple of $900 phones damaged (followed by the outrage social media posts) by non-technical end-users to negate any savings. Better to make it bullet-proof.