I remember last year when Best Buy stores all became AASP’s...except they don’t really do any work on Macs at all. They send them out to their service centers and don’t even use OEM batteries in their replacements, for example.
With the nearest Apple store two hours away (and not even open this year), it would be nice if Best Buy could do the work...sigh
Authorized Service Providers and Independent Repair Provider are two separate programs. IRP was created a few years ago specifically for iOS devices. This article says that it's expanding to Macs.
ASPs have been around for decades. Computing stores in many US colleges/universities are ASPs. In the past, when Macs were much simpler, they were allowed to do a fair amount of work on then. However, you're right. As Macs have changed and everything has become fused together, ASPs have basically just become an interface between the customer and real Apple. Basically a "Genius" bar not in an Apple Store.
With the nearest Apple store two hours away (and not even open this year), it would be nice if Best Buy could do the work...sigh