Microsoft Surface Pro Fails iFixit’s Repairability Test

The team at gadget repair site iFixit dug below the Surface to find out what's inside Microsoft's flagship product. It discovered a device sealed so tight that it is virtually unrepairable.

Click here for the complete iFixit report. The display alone took an experienced hardware technician an hour to remove mainly because it is attached with a tar-like adhesive that required a careful removal with a heat gun and guitar picks. The technician found that the battery is also nearly impossible to remove and replace because it’s hidden behind the motherboard and was itself glued to the chassis. The solid state drive (SSD) is removable, “but you risk killing your tablet by trying to open it,” the site warns.

iFixit said there is no shortage of screws in the Surface Pro. Twenty-nine screws held the front and rear plates together and 90 screws in total throughout the device.

It concluded that "unless you perform the opening procedure 100 percent correctly, chances are you'll shear one of the four cables surrounding the display perimeter effectively destroying the tablet.”

The Microsoft Surface Pro earned iFixit’s worst rating for repairability: a 1 of 10. It says no other tablet has scored that low.