8 ms·
Surface Pro 9 teardown reveals modular parts, Microsoft’s 2023 repair plans
- rowanG077 4y agoI don't agree that this is that much of an improvement. I replaced the battery and screen on my old Surface Pro 5. Sure the battery was glued. But that's a drop in the bucket for the glued screen. And since the screen is still glued I don't see how the score should be so jaw droppingly better.
- rasz 4y ago>modular components: motherboard, thermal module, the Surface Connect Port, speakers, Wi-Fi module, front and rear cameras, and side buttons Reads like onion. Its "modular" because motherboard is not glued to display and buttons ...
- lhoff 4y agoWell my Surface Pro 3 got retired due to a brocken connect port. The only reason why I bought a Pro 7 was the UBs-C port that allowed charging so that another Bbocken connector wouldnt mean a death sentence.
- seltzered_ 4y agoWith the surface pro 9 its worth noting theres only two usb-c ports, and no headphone jack. Frustrating as i currently use an HP elite x2 tablet and make full use of the three usb-c ports (charging, tethering, and many times a keyboard) and headphone jack. It's fairly repairable too since its considered more of an enterprise-class device, sadly been discontinued afaik.
- stefan_ 4y agoOriginal non blogspam: https://www.ifixit.com/News/68671/does-the-surface-pro-9-mark-a-turning-point-for-repairability-at-microsoft https://www.ifixit.com/News/68671/does-the-surface-pro-9-mar...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Sakos 4y ago> The RAM is soldered to the motherboard, something that iFixit would typically penalize in the past. But iFixit says that given the power savings and performance boost from proximity to the CPU, it can't punish the decision. ... seriously? At this point it's beginning to feel like iFixit is selling out to these companies. Score of 7/10 and the RAM is soldered. That doesn't compute for me. If the SSD is actually replaceable as the teardown indicates, that's a huge plus. If the wifi/BT module is still integrated, that's a big fat minus, because those are the most likely parts that have failed on pretty much every iteration of the Surface and I'm sick and tired of seeing these insanely expensive and impossible to repair devices with parts that quickly fail.
- Wowfunhappy 4y agoReplaceable parts aren't necessarily better if they come with huge design tradeoffs. For maximum replaceability, you should get a desktop—but Microsoft is selling laptops. I'm glad iFixit is considering the tradeoffs involved here.
- Sakos 4y agoConsidering? No, they're ignoring the trade-offs to prefer the one that benefits Microsoft. Their purpose used to be to judge the repairability of devices. It clearly isn't anymore.
- Wowfunhappy 4y agoShould iFixit give all laptops terrible scores for not being desktops?
- mkl 4y agoNo, some laptops are designed for easy repair and upgrades. My 2010 ThinkPad simply has unscrewable panels to access the RAM and hard disk, and Framework is even better.
- 4y ago
- cobertos 4y agoYou still have to unglue the screen though. And it gets a 7/10? I really like the Dell Latitude 2-in-1 (tablet) as my Surface clone/replacement. It's held together by screws and it has had Thunderbolt for quite a while now!
- jabroni_salad 4y agoifixit made a lot of concessions. maybe they should try microsoft's warranty process before giving it so many passes, as someone who is struggling to get the fan of my SP8 replaced for something that doesnt sound like it has a loose bearing.
- gregoryl 4y agoOdd, I've found the Australian branch of support to be unreasonably excellent, even with personal devices (the corp devices have fancy replacement insurance, MS just ships you a new laptop next day).
- Ptchd 4y ago6 or 5 out of 10 sounds about right...
- tunnuz 4y agoI have been looking for a few days for a small Windows-based 2-in-1 tablet with a keyboard cover and a stylus to 1. carry around and do some coding on, 2. watching movies / studying and browsing, 3. drawing / taking notes. My search so far landed on the Surface Pro 8 and Surface Go 3. The former has significantly better performance, which I like, but it's basically the size of a proper laptop. The latter is 10" or so, which is the size I'm looking for, but apparently has terrible performance. Can anybody recommend some more options?
- blackguardx 4y agoI have a Surface Go 2 and it works fine for the stuff you listed. The only possible issue is that the keyboard isn't full-sized and can feel cramped.
- returnofzyx 4y agoAny thoughts on the relatively low PWM frequency of the Surface Go 2's display? Do you notice it?
- blackguardx 4y agoThe display seems fine to me. I didn’t do any research before I bought it besides using it in a store. I don’t think most people notice the nitpicky details hardcore reviewers seem to catch.
- returnofzyx 4y agoThanks for the feedback.
- cowtools 4y agoI reccomend the Lenovo Surface Gogo Plus 4, it has a great screen and battery life for doodling on the go. The YangShi Utilipad Pro is another great option if you are on a limited budget
- sahaskatta 4y agoIt's unfortunate that needing a heat pad to melt glue simply to replace the battery is considered repairable. I miss the era when we could just pop a battery in or out of a phone or laptop.