The teardown specialists at iFixIt have rendered a damning indictment against Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop. It’s not repairable in any way, and it will have a limited lifespan thanks to the design of its battery.
“The Surface Laptop is not a laptop,” the site concludes. “It’s a glue-filled monstrosity. There is nothing about it that is upgradable or long-lasting, and it literally can’t be opened without destroying it.”
Granted, this isn’t the first time a Surface device was described as a repair nightmare. Surface Pro 4, for example, was likewise cited for its terrible repairability. But Surface Pro 4 was at least awarded 2 out of 10 points, apparently because its SSD is replaceable.
Surface Laptop? It received 0 out of 10 points. Yes, zero.Here’s why:
- This laptop is not meant to be opened or repaired; you can’t get inside without inflicting a lot of damage. There are no screws, so iFixIt needed to use a Jimmy blade and an iOpener to forcibly peel away the Alcantara-covered keyboard lid, which is held on by overly-strong adhesive and welding glue. Once it’s ripped off, it cannot be replaced because the unit is destroyed by this process.
- The CPU, RAM, and onboard storage are soldered to the motherboard, making upgrades a no-go. What you get with Surface Laptop is what it will die with: None of the core components can be replaced or upgraded.
- The headphone jack, while modular, can only be accessed by removing the heat sink, fan, display, and motherboard. And that is a daunting, multi-step process.
- The battery is difficult and dangerous to replace, giving the device a limited lifespan. This is particularly disappointing, frankly. It’s like Surface Laptop was designed to be temporary.
News Source: Here
