The Surface Pro X is surprisingly repairable

As is customary these days, iFixit has completed a teardown of the new Microsoft Surface Pro X, its gorgeous new Windows on ARM tablet. Interestingly, iFixit has discovered that even though it is quite thin at 7.3 mm, is surprisingly repairable. So much so that the company has awarded it a 6/10 score for repairability – this compares with a score of just 3/10 for the new iPad Pro.

It starts with the user replaceable, and therefore upgradeable, SSD. This is accessible by using simple a SIM tool. From there getting the display off is tricky but doable using iFixit’s Opening Picks which are sufficient to lift the display off with minimal glue holding it place. What is noticeable is that there is a lot of shielding and covers in place to get to components, but once removed, accessing the components is relatively straight forward.

Microsoft’s new design approach suggests that its previous, less accessible approach might have been costing it money in making repairs that it wasn’t anticipating. This new approach means that if a device is faulty, it is much more likely that Microsoft will be able to tear a device down, fix it and then put it back into circulation either as a refurbished product or as a replacement for warranty claims.

Buy Surface Pro X now on Amazon