In a letter from its lobbyist, Apple 'urges' California lawmakers to pass the strongest right-to-repair law in the country.
I believe this is genuine support of the bill from Apple. Between Right to Repair winning in Massachusetts and the EU demanding compliance, I think Apple decided to flip the script. They would want to continue the illusion of customer friendly tech.
Either that, or it's become clear they can't win, and they're trying to look good and gaslight people into believing they were always on the right side of this.
But they'll have a much harder time with it in the EU where they cannot as easily buy people off. Plus it's actually a crime in the EU, so if they get caught trying they'll be in trouble, so perhaps they've concluded it isn't worth the risk.
IMO, they have realised they cannot win - so have now switched sides for the PR boost and so they have more sway over the bills that get passed. This way they can look like they support the right to repair while knocking the teeth off the bills proposed under the argument of safety and security.