Yes really.

> The products aren't upgradable or repairable by the end user

See? Yes really indeed.

> as they demonstrated today, they are upgradeable (to brand new things like solar panels) and repairable by Apple themselves.

Recycling is neither upgrading nor repairing.

> I for one hate the idea of an end-user upgradeable smart phone. That sounds like a minefield of driver issues and the like that I just don't want. Its why I moved away from Windows in the first place.

I'm not talking changing GPU (which doesn't really make sense on a laptop let alone a cell phone), I'm talking about soldered RAM and non-standard SSD connectors on laptops, and heavily glued batteries behind tons of odd screws on both phones and laptops. No drivers involved, and the ability to increase device lifespan by years.

> I think it makes a great deal of sense to consolidate the upgrades and repairs

Again, recycling is not upgrading or repairing, it's taking waste and re-making into product, that requires more materials and energy than not having to do that and being able to keep using the product in the first place.

> they can do it far more efficiently at scale.

That makes literally no sense. Recycling, even at scale, can't be more efficient than not making product into waste in the first place. You can't recover as much matter and energy as was put into building the product to start with unless you've found a way around everything we know of thermodynamics, and if you have what are you commenting on internet forums for? You've basically solved all the world's problem!