The new Microsoft Surface Go teardown shows it joins its esteemed bigger brothers and the MacBook as the world’s most unrepairable notebooks.
Noted teardown specialist iFixit (teardown here) was hoping for something a little less messy when they tore apart the Microsoft Surface Go. Alas, masses of almost unassailable, goopy glue hide beneath the Surface.
And as access to everything is via the front glass screen iFixit says while it is a little easier to remove [than its bigger brothers] without breaking, it is still terrifyingly hard. Replacement of any part requires removal of the display assembly, an easy (and expensive) part to damage.
GadgetGuy covered the launch here. We see it as an ideal traveller’s device just small enough to put in a largish handbag or smallish backpack. It will also appeal to education markets where macOS or iOS is not the best option.
Microsoft Surface Go Teardown – what lies beneath the surface?
- 10-inch 3:2 ratio, 1800×1200, 216ppi, PixelSense Display
- 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold dual-core 1.6Ghz Processor 4415Y
- Intel HD Graphics 615
- Atmel ATSAMD20E ARM microcontroller for Touch Screen management (Surface’s secret sauce)
- 4 or 8GB LPDDR4 RAM soldered to the motherboard
- 64GB eMMC 5.1 (128 GB NVMe option) soldered to the motherboard
- Ports: Surface connect ribbon, USB-C 3.1 (supports 4K out and power delivery), 3.5mm audio
- microSD card reader to 1TB
- Windows 10 Home
- Fan-less design
- 165° hinge from standard to studio mode
- Compatible with Surface Pen with 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity
- 5MP Windows Hello front camera
- 8MP auto-focus rear camera
- Qualcomm QCA6174A Wi-Fi AC dual-band, 2×2 MU-MIMO and Bluetooth 4.2
- LTE model coming later this year
- 245mm x 175mm x 8.3mm x 520g (.77kg with keyboard)
- Up to 9 hours of battery life. 24W power supply and fast charge for 0-80% in 60 minutes
- Supports Surface Dock
- Dolby Audio front-firing stereo speakers
- Available 28 August in Australia – pre-order available
- A$599 base model plus optional Go Keyboard cover and magnetic Pen
GadgetGuy’s take. Icky, sticky goopy glue is easy to build but harder to repair
It seems the smaller, thinner, lighter hybrids and laptops get the more glue holds it together. As mentioned earlier its easy to make but damned hard to economically repair. At the least batteries, RAM and M2 storage should be relatively easy to remove and replace.
Companies including HP, Dell and Lenovo, are taking note. At least making their laptops ‘field serviceable’ via a screw-on base plate. Good move. As we review future devices, we will be looking closely at repairability.
Microsoft Surface Go teardown, Microsoft Surface Go teardown
