Microsoft’s Surface Pro 6 tablet started shipping in 10 markets yesterday, and the folks over at iFixit have already published their complete teardown. Surface devices are notoriously hard to repair, and as it turns out the Surface Pro 6 is unfortunately no exception.
Except from the new 8th gen quad-core Intel processors, iFixit found very little changes compared to the Surface Pro 5. Microsoft added new heat spreaders to deal with the additional heat produced by the more powerful processor, but there’s still no active cooling system inside. The battery is also identical to the one in the Pro 5, and it’s still glued-in, just like the display. Moreover, storage on the Surface Pro 6 is non-removable, and this wasn’t the case in previous versions.
iFixit highlighted a few positive things like the use of standard screws and a compatibility with the Surface Pro 5 display, but the new tablet is still very difficult to repair. “We found the same glued-shut (dare we say disposable?) 1/10 repairability score tablet we’ve seen for the past few years. No upgradability, no USB-C, a glued-in battery with a limited life—but hey, it comes in black,” wrote iFixit.
The teardown experts have yet to publish their analysis of the Surface Laptop 2, and expectations for this one may be a little bit higher. Last year, the original Surface Laptop got a 0/10 repairability score, with iFixit calling it a “glue-filled monstrosity.” The new model apparently kept the same chassis, and we doubt Microsoft made an extra effort to improve its repairability.
