Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown

Teardown

Teardown

Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.

Featured Guide

Featured Guide

This guide has been found to be exceptionally cool by the iFixit staff.

It's a laptop! It's a tablet! It's a lablet! It's…it's…Microsoft's Surface Windows 8 Pro, and it's about to go down on the teardown table.

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Maybe one day we could combine those, as well, to get Facer or Twitbook! But for now, we will settle for Microsoft's newest lablet.

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Add Note Edit Step 1 — Microsoft Surface Pro Teardown  ¶ 

  • Here lies the second version of Surface devices, the Microsoft Surface Pro.

  • Noteworthy specs:

    • Windows 8, the real deal

    • 10.6" ClearType HD Display (resolution of 1920x1080 pixels) with 10 point multitouch

    • 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000 (the same graphics found in current-generation MacBook Air laptops)

    • 4 GB of DDR3-1600 RAM

    • 64 GB or 128 GB flash storage

    • Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.0

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Add Note Edit Step 2  ¶ 

  • Despite its name's implication, the Microsoft Surface Pro actually has multiple surfaces! This design may have been to confuse consumers, but more likely was necessary to suit our perception of three dimensions. Checking out the surfaces fitted with the ports we find:

    • Headset jack

    • Volume rocker

    • Full-size USB 3.0 port

  • On the flipside:

    • Mini DisplayPort

    • Magnetic charging port

    • MicroSDXC card slot

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Add Note Edit Step 3  ¶ 

  • Just like last time, we lift the kickstand and let the Surface reveal its secrets.

  • What wisdom does this Pro have for us?

    • "Surface | 64 GB | Model 1514 | Made in China." Also, great news: this device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Good to know.

  • 64 GB of storage? Where we're going, we don't need storage.

    • …which is good, since the operating system takes up over half of those 64 gigs! (More on that later.)

  • We begin our trip back into the land of torn down devices; we first use our trusty T5 Torx screwdriver to pull out two screws securing the kickstand to its hinges.

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Add Note Edit Step 4  ¶ 

  • We are starting to miss the old Surface, as we find a metric duckload of adhesive holding the screen in place.

  • We tried every method we could think of to free the screen, including cutting the adhesive, to no avail. This Pro requires a pro method. Thankfully, we have one: we call it the Heat-It-Up-and-Poke-It-Til-It-Does-What-We-Want method. Luckily, we have the required heat gun and guitar picks ready.

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Add Note Edit Step 5  ¶ 

  • After a long process of heating and prying, we get our first glance inside.

  • No, that sticky black stuff is not tar, although it is unbelievably close in function, appearance, and smell.

  • There was no warranty voiding sticker this round, but you don't really need one to tell if this lablet has been opened—the adhesive is a dead giveaway.

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Add Note Edit Step 6  ¶ 

  • Strapped to the back of the LCD is a small PCB housing a Wacom W9002 chip, that we assume is responsible for driving the Wacom Electro Magnetic Resonance (EMR) digitizer system.

    • In this system, developed by Wacom, a grid of wires embedded in the screen generate magnetic fields that induce current in a coil in the tip of the tablet pen, both powering it and indicating its position over the grid. The pen then wirelessly returns that location data, along with pressure and click information.

  • We also found the LCD display driver, a Samsung WiseView N52A2NE, similar to the driver found in the iPad 2.

    • Here's the ginormous version of the LCD display board so you can view it in all its glory.

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Add Note Edit Step 7  ¶ 

  • Let's face it, there's really not much to see here. Eye can't think of anything clever, so if anyone nose something to say about the Surface Pro with its display removed, please mouth your opinion. I mustache you to keep thinking while eyebrows the interwebs.

  • Puns aside, we whip out our handy screwdriver and remove the 23 screws holding this plastic bezel in place.

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Add Note Edit Step 8  ¶ 

  • With the gluey plastic bezel clear of the device, we gain access to the front-facing camera.

  • While this 720p HD "LifeCam with TrueColor" is nothing to write home about, it's on par with both the MacBook Air and iPad's front-facing cams.

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