If you are familiar with the tech world, you"ve quite possibly heard of iFixit; the folks over at iFixit are quite well-known in the tech community for tearing down devices new to the market to explore their internal components. To date, they have stripped down various gadgets including the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, Sony PlayStation 4, Apple"s iPhones and the iPad Mini 4, among others. Now, they have torn down Microsoft"s Surface Book, awarding it an abysmal repairability score of 1 out of 10, which means that it"s nearly impossible to fix.
However, this score is hardly surprising given that most of Microsoft"s products have been given ratings in the same neighborhood. The whole tear down procedure for the Surface Book consisted of 30 steps, and according to iFixit, the basis for the dismal score was:
- After the difficult opening procedure, the SSD can be replaced. So too the glued battery in the display. However, the base battery is very heavily glued.
- The display assembly consists of a fused glass panel and LCD, and is difficult to remove and replace.
- The processor and RAM are soldered to the motherboard.
- Strong adhesive holds many components in place, including the display, base cover, and both batteries.
- Many components are on the backs of their respective boards, requiring motherboard removal to replace simple components.
Similarly, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 received a 2 out of 10 repairability score from iFixit, citing an irreplaceable SSD, a difficult-to-remove battery, and the tedious display removal procedure, among other reasons.
Source: iFixit via Microsoft-News | Image via iFixit