Laptops have steadily become more like our smartphones; slabs of glass and metal that we’re strongly discouraged from opening and tinkering with. The ultra-thin laptop often dispenses with repairability in favour of keeping the device as skinny and light as possible. So when the iFixit team took apart Microsoft’s Surface Book, as expected, the results are a tinkerer’s nightmare.
The convertible laptop comes in two separate pieces that can be clipped together and held in place using a system of magnets and wires, so this isn’t your everyday teardown. Typically, laptops made today come with the caveat that many of their parts are not going to be easy to find replacements for, but if the computer does need serviced, it’s nice to know it won’t be difficult to open.
The Surface Book is put together in such a way that in order to get to the actual innards of the computer, you actually need to take the entire thing apart. Because the top half of the laptop is basically a tablet, it means the guts of the computer have to be tucked away underneath the screen. However, like in a laptop, there still have to ultimately be physical connections between the two halves of the laptop for the keyboard to provide additional power to the device.
Fans of DIY repair will likely be disappointed to learn that in order to swap out any non-functioning parts, the entire top half of the computer will need to be taken apart. However, with the way the whole industry is moving, this type of construction is becoming the norm now, with lots of glue and solder being used to keep all of the device’s components in place.
You can see the entire teardown in all its glory over at iFixit.
[source]iFixit[/source]
