Last month Microsoft revealed a bunch of new additions to their line-up of Surface hardware. There were plenty of surprises, including the foldable Surface Duo and Surface Neo.
They also introduced the Surface Pro X, a Windows tablet that’s powered by a customized Snapdragon 8cx chip that was developed by Qualcomm and Microsoft.
Microsoft deciding to roll the dice on another ARM-based tablet caused a few raised eyebrows — but iFixit has discovered something even more surprising about the Surface Pro X. It’s crazy easy to repair.
The Surface Pro X expertly laid bare by iFixit
iFixit recently tore down the Surface Pro X. At the end of the process, their experts awarded the tablet a 6 out of 10 for repairability.
How does that stack up to some competing tablets? Microsoft’s own Surface Pro 6 is an absolute nightmare to repair and scored a 1 from iFixit. The 2019 iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini all scored 2s. The latest iPad Pro earned the best mark of Apple’s current generation of tablets: a 3.
What makes the Surface Pro X such a dream to disassemble and reassemble? Just about all its key components are modular, including its dual USB-C ports. That makes it easy (and less expensive!) to replace individual components that fail.
iFixit also liked that only standard Torx screws are used, and there aren’t many of them. The fact that the display has to be removed to perform most repairs was a negative, but not a huge one. The Surface Pro X can be removed with careful prying alone. There’s no need to heat the thing to loosen up gobs of adhesive.
And wait, what’s this? That’s the Surface Pro X’s SSD, which is hidden under an easy-to-access cover. It’s tucked behind the tablet’s kickstand and held in place bu a magnet. Insert your preferred eject tool (like a straightened paperclip) and the cover comes right off. A single screw holds the drive in place.
Beyond making storage upgrades a breeze, this makes it crazy easy for IT admins to ensure that sensitive data doesn’t wind up in the wrong hands. When a tablet is repurposed or taken out of service just pop the drive out and shred it. No need to destroy the whole device because the storage is soldered to the mainboard!
The Surface Pro X isn’t the only Microsoft device that earned high marks from iFixit. The new Surface Laptop 3 did, too. Here’s hoping we’re witnessing the start of a trend.
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