In context: At its Surface launch event last month, Microsoft unveiled its new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, powered by the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors. The devices started shipping last week alongside other Copilot+ notebooks from leading PC manufacturers. Now, iFixit has performed teardowns of the devices.
Microsoft’s Surface devices have typically faced criticism for being extremely hard to repair, but the latest models have bucked the trend and earned high repairability scores from well-known repair platform iFixit.
Both the Surface Pro 11 and the Surface Laptop 7 received 8/10 on iFixit’s repairability index, making them some of the most repairable devices in their respective segments. However, the scores are provisional, meaning they could change upon further testing.
As demonstrated by iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari in the teardown video, the panels and components come with what Microsoft calls “Wayfinder Markings” that detail the number and type of screws used to secure the hardware. The panels also include QR codes that can be scanned to get download links for the official service manuals.
Replacing the battery in the Surface Laptop 7 doesn’t even require any service guide as it can be easily accomplished by simply removing the back cover. The SSD is also fairly easy to remove, meaning users can add storage by installing a more capacious SSD in the future.
The only sore point is the soldered memory, which means it isn’t user-replaceable unlike the other components. Notwithstanding the soldered memory, iFixit describes the Surface Laptop 7 as an “astonishingly repair-friendly device, almost the antithesis of the original Surface Laptop.”
The Surface Pro 11 is also similarly easy to repair, and replacing the SSD doesn’t take a lot of work here either. Even the screen is relatively easy to remove compared to other tablets. However, replacing the battery needs a little more work, thanks to the strong adhesive securing the display panel. While the Surface Pro 11 is relatively harder to repair than the Surface Laptop 7, it is still one of the most repairable tablets disassembled by iFixit.
According to iFixit, both the new Surface devices are significantly more repairable than their earlier iterations, and Microsoft deserves credit for its “stunning and swift U-turn” that has turned its Surface PCs from being almost totally unrepairable to “very repairable.” Microsoft’s change of heart is a step in the right direction, but it remains to be seen if the other OEMs will also follow suit and make their new laptops and tablets as repairable as the new Surface twins.
