You've forgotten the ~$30 reimbursement for returning the broken part.
Honestly though... what did you expect? Apple said the parts were sold at the exact same prices as their AASPs and their own stores. When you already have the tools, that makes a ~$49 margin for the Store or AASP for a display replacement, a healthy reimbursement of labor and time. Did you expect to save hundreds?
This video shows it being done in 10 minutes with explanation and without any cuts. (This is an XR which is pretty old school but I don't have any positive reason to believe it takes longer with newer displays.)
Is this really a fair comparison to someone that has never done it before, doesn’t have everything perfectly laid out. Doesn't have the confidence to proceed at pace without bricking their $1000+ phone and priceless memories. Doesn’t have to deal with the screen that’s probably shattered to shit and they can’t backup their phone because they can’t enter the password. Has places to put all the little screws so that they don’t lose them and the time needed to remember how to put them right back?
> Is this really a fair comparison to someone that has never done it before . . .
That's not what we're comparing it to. We're discussing the labor cost to Apple of replacing the screen, and asking whether $50 is a healthy margin for labor and other overheads. The answer is yes, since replacing a screen does not take all that much labor. As much as I hate Apple, the fact a screen can be replaced so quickly supports their claim that the parts themselves are most of the cost of the repair, and justifies their charging as much as they do for the self-service program.
(I mean it could be that they're lying through their teeth and they're making a huge profit but that would be bold. Highly visible companies normally either tell half truths or stay silent, they tend not to make direct, clear lies over an item that has a lot of public scrutiny.)
Honestly though... what did you expect? Apple said the parts were sold at the exact same prices as their AASPs and their own stores. When you already have the tools, that makes a ~$49 margin for the Store or AASP for a display replacement, a healthy reimbursement of labor and time. Did you expect to save hundreds?