Advocates believe that tech giants realized they were on the losing side of the repair fight and that by making some concessions, they could keep a seat at the negotiating table in order to shape future regulations.
This is the crux of this entire issue. Apple is accepting the rules because it realizes fighting it is a losing battle. By accepting the rules now, it can pretend to be the good guy, keep a seat at the table while behind the scenes working on malicious compliance.
Basically, it is accepting it now so they can help shape the laws so it is written in ways they have no problems with.
Sure, you will have the right to repair your iPhone. But only 3rd party shops that pay $$$ to become a Certified Apple Repair Center will qualify and they will only be allowed to use Apply supplied parts and will be required to charge apple set repair rates.
What have we gained?
That is a disingenuous argument. There is a middle ground between paying Apple markup for Apple branded parts and counterfeit parts.
I can buy perfectly good, sometimes much better than OEM quality parts for my car. They are not counterfeit. They are just parts made by a supplier.
Apple doesn’t manufacture anything. There is no Apple factory. Everything is sourced from suppliers and assembled together. Those same suppliers could be selling the exact same quality parts for less without the Apple logo on them.