Am I asking too much?

 I am writing this as an Apple shareholder and customer.

Much has been said about planned obsolescence, how we no longer build things to last, how the manufacture and disposal of electronics and appliances are harmful to the environment.  I came from the generation where refrigerators last 20+ years and computers that doubled in speed every 18 months until having multiple cores became more mainstream.  So I have seen both sides.

And so to some extent, I expect computers to last longer than five years.  I've had a 2009 Macbook which I kept until 2018.  Granted, it was relegated to light duties like surfing the web or playing music for my then 4 year old.

I have a 2011 Macbook Pro, which works to this day, except for the battery that doesn't hold a charge (I accept the lifespan of NiMH batteries) and consequently, a mouse pad that doesn't work because the battery has expanded and is pushing the trackpad mechanism.  But the camera works flawlessly.

Which brings me to my 2016 Macbook Pro.  The camera has stopped working, and after my own troubleshooting, two trips to the Apple Store for various resets, OS reinstall, as well as reseating the cables that presumably connect the display to the main board, the geniuses at Apple have deemed my laptop broken.  

The option given to me was to buy a new display for $478 plus tax.  Why a new display, and not just the camera?  I presume these are integrated units, or built as a single replaceable part, which brings us back to the e-waste problem.  The display is working, so why replace the whole thing for just the camera?

What's frustrating is that the software-based diagnostic test revealed that the camera is perfectly fine.  So I thought it was just a software issue.  But if it was, an OS reinstall would've fixed it.  And if the cable was loose, why can the diagnostics software detect the camera?

My wife uses this 2016 Macbook Pro.  It works fine otherwise, except for the camera, which she needs to occasionally join a video call.  It's just not worth spending $478 for it.  It certainly isn't worth getting a new one, since I am typing this on a 2020 Macbook Pro.  These aren't business laptops that are on a three year refresh cycle.  

For a thousand dollar laptop, is it too much to ask for the camera to last more than 5 years?