Someone has uploaded what appear to be 11 of Apple's internal repair videos to YouTube. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but two sources in the repair community familiar with Apple's repair policies told Motherboard these are indeed genuine Apple how-to videos.

The videos themselves have an Apple copyright on them, the host references internal Apple documentation and diagnostic tests, and, most importantly, the videos use proprietary Apple disassembly and repair tools that Motherboard has previously confirmed are manufactured by and are exclusive to Apple.

The videos on how to open an iPhone X and replace its battery are particularly interesting, and show that the DIY repair community has been extremely good at reverse-engineering Apple's official procedures.

The instructor walks the repair tech through the process of opening the case on the iPhone X in a way that closely mirrors the process that sites such as iFixit have been doing for a few years now. The video starts by instructing the tech to remove the screws near the lighting port, then inserting the iPhone X into a device that uses suction cups to pry the screen away from the body while the tech uses a small tool to cut the adhesive along the seams at the edge of the device.

Apple's suction cup tool looks like a bulkier version of iFixit's iSclack tool - a suction cup device that customers can use to disassemble and repair their own device. The video about replacing the iPhone X's battery is similar to the iFixit video of the same procedure.

This is bad news for Apple as it rather depends on people not knowing its secret repair methods so it can charge its followers an arm and a leg. If users work out that third party repair outfits know just as much then they might be not so keen to stump up so much cash.