I guess there will always be people to argue both sides of this point. However it seems clear that the shipping would mean Apple is losing money on the transaction.
You really think it'd be more controversial if Apple were to ship a standard, iFixIt style replacement toolset like everybody else does rather than two suitcase-sized boxes weighing a combined 80 pounds with a 1200$ deposit and further require a call to their support line to validate the parts in order to change a battery?
That way, Apple has no liability for the actual repair.
But, as others suggest, I think there is actually a dark pattern at work here.
About half as long, I’d estimate.
The problem with your type is the word “Apple”. From there it’s double standards all the way.
Reserving the full price of the equipment on the credit card places these repair out of the hands of the people that need affordable repairs the most. I'm also honestly sure that Apple can design better tooling for consumer repair than this, they've solved more difficult problems.
You buy the battery for the same $69 that an in store replacement costs. You then get a $24 credit when you return the old battery. Apple covers this shipping cost too.
I have the iFixit battery kit from a previous replacement and through work have access to a bench full of tools of this kind of stuff.
People that don't have that can buy the iFixit tools individually. They sell a battery with a minimal set of tools (a $5 adder) but there's doesn't seem to be an option to buy that same minimal set without the battery so you'd need to get a more general purpose set for $25 or $70.
Maybe a friend has the tools. Maybe there's a local Makerspace or library that has an appropriate set of tools.