Microsoft Surface Pro 2 fares poorly in iFixit teardown

Ample use of adhesives and over 90 screws give Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 a 1/10 score during iFixit's teardown.

Ronald Tiefenthäler/Omar Al-Qudsi, Published 10/23/2013

Apprehensive folks looking to explore the innards of their shiny new Surface Pro 2 tablet can now do so with the full help of iFixit's latest teardown, although it won't be an easy task. Microsoft's newest tablet received an abysmal score in the website's review, netting a mere 1 out of 10 on the repairability scale.

Thanks to Microsoft's generous use of adhesive and screws (totaling over 90 on the inside), the $900 device is extremely difficult to open and repair on your own. Neither the SSD nor the battery are glued to the tablet, theoretically allowing user replacement, but a fused glass panel and LCD make getting to them in the first place quite a challenge. In addition, the tablet's size doesn't allow much room for maneuverability and certain ribbon connectors can easily be sheared in the process.

The teardown isn't all gloomy though, as it uncovers Microsoft's switch from Micron/Marvell to SK Hynix for their NAND flash storage and DDR2 RAM production. Furthermore, the device's improved battery life and cooling are solely a result of Haswell and improved Microsoft code, with the battery size and fan similar to those found on the inside of the original Surface Pro.

Complete details of the Surface Pro 2's innards and procedure can be found in the source link below, but as always, caution should definitely be exercised before any tampering.