Introduction
Surface Laptop teardowns have historically been a painful business—but with the Surface Laptop 3, Microsoft hinted that something is very different. Is it a good idea to try this again? We say put away your tools and let the professionals try this one first. Oh wait, that’s us.
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And check out our 13.5” Alcantara Laptop 3 teardown video!
What you need
Video Overview
Learn how to repair your Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15" with this video overview.-
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Before we begin, let's look at some Surface-level specs:
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15" PixelSense Display with 2256 × 1504 resolution (201 ppi)
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AMD Ryzen 5 3580U mobile processor with Radeon Vega 9 graphics
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8 GB of DDR4 RAM
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256 GB removable SSD storage
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720p front-facing camera with Windows Hello sign-in
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USB-C, USB-A, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and Surface Connect port
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Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.0
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So far, the Surface Laptop 3 is looking pretty familiar, but we've been salivating about the changes under this façade since the keynote.
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And speaking of monochrome, check out this amazing X-ray (thanks to Creative Electron). We get a preview of all the usual laptop bits, plus some unusual dark bars around the perimeter. Are those magnets?
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Underneath, along with vents and the standard regulatory markings, we find a new model number: 1873.
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The all-new 15" Surface Laptop towers over its 13.5" sibling. It may be bigger, stronger, and come with a custom Ryzen processor, but the 13.5" model has one thing the 15" line lacks: a nice cozy bed for your palms.
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Compared with the 15" 2019 MacBook Pro, some more contrasts show up: The Surface Laptop is a little thicker, with a more wedge-like profile. Both have USB ports, but the Surface trades one USB-C for a USB-A.
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And as in every Surface Laptop, we find the lone proprietary Surface Connect port around the other side, which can deliver both power and high-speed data.
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Convenient, worry-free magnetic charging ports used to be an Apple thing, but now Microsoft carries that torch.
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Our expectations are low as we pry off the bottom feet. Last time we attempted this, it was the start of a painful, destructive jour—
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A Torx Plus screw hides under each bottom foot—not the most common screw head in the world, but nothing our Mako kit can't handle with a little finesse.
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With the four Torx Plus screws removed, we take a stab with our opening tool at the seam between the upper and lower case, and ... it comes right apart! With nary a speck of unsightly glue in sight!
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Once the shock wore off, we also tried popping open a 13.5" Alcantara-covered Surface Laptop. Same results!
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Just like that, the whole top cover assembly lifts away! This is a magical moment. We sigh in relief and put away the knife we had on hand to cut this thing open.
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As a bonus, the cover is tethered by a single flex cable with plenty of slack ... and the connector at the end is secured with a magnet instead of those fussy clip-on brackets that we always ruin. Very slick.
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With the top case flipped over, behold ... magnets. Magnets! No wonder Panos was able to yank this thing off so easily on stage.
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Teardown update: Turns out the mysterious battery icon has an accompanying status indicator LED! It seems to light up when the board is energized. Jumping the battery icon pins doesn't turn out the lights, but removing the SSD does ...
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First thing we spot with that magnet-y top cover assembly out of the way: the removable SSD. If we hadn't already seen this in Microsoft's keynote presentation, we'd probably be passed out in our chairs by now.
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A single Torx Plus screw secures this M.2 2230 SSD, making swaps, upgrades, and user privacy management a reality for the mass—oh wait, it's “not user removable.”
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Of the two speaker siblings, only one is allowed to leave freely. The other remains trapped under the heat sink for now.
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Despite the requisite stubborn shields, this disassembly seems almost too easy—the heat sink assembly is already freed and so far nothing is irreparably damaged.
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We skipped ahead a little, but you can actually remove this display as soon as the device is open.
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Four flex cables wrap over the hinge and tuck into the back of the frame, where they're covered by some prickly metal shields. Prying up and wiggling out the shields without damaging the cables is somewhat of a nail-biter.
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With the shields aside, and a few more screws dispatched, the display lifts away easily.
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We're close to freeing the motherboard at this point, but we're slowed down by screws hidden underneath more shields.
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This teardown is moving fast, so let's remember to stop and smell the chips:
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Microsoft Surface Edition AMD Ryzen 5 3580U processor
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SKhynix H5AN8G6NCJR eight 8 Gb DDR4 SDRAM—sadly still soldered and not upgradable—for 8 GB total
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NXP LPC54S001J microcontroller
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Macronix MX25U1635E serial NOR flash memory
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Winbond 25Q128JW 128 Mb serial flash memory
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Microsoft X904169 display driver IC's and X904163 display driver IC
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Qualcomm QCA6174A Wi-Fi/Bluetooth SoC
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We're having so much fun that this board gets a bonus round! Plus, a look at the (comparatively featureless) backside:
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Texas Instruments TUSB1044 USB Type-C 10 Gbps Linear Redriver
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Texas Instruments TPS65987D USB Type-C and USB PD controller
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Texas Instruments BQ25713 battery charge controller
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Texas Instruments TS3A27518E 6-channel multiplexer
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Despite the other radical redesigns, the Surface Laptop 3's battery looks relatively unchanged—same pinned-under-the-board connector, same miserable removal process.
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A whole lotta solvent, prying, and patience later, we have lift-off. No stretch-release adhesive here—this tape is tough and really wants to stick around.
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This is slightly more than the original Surface Laptop (45.2 Wh) and the Surface Pro 6 (45 Wh). For those of you who measure everything in Apples, it's less than in the 15" MacBook Pro (83.6 Wh).
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What's left? We pop some more screws and two shields, and the trackpad lifts free from that floating magnetic top cover.
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Barnacled to the trackpad, we find some familiar silicon: an NXP/Freescale MK22FN512 Kinetis MCU and Synaptics S9101B touch controller.
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That said, with the trackpad out, a keyboard + top cover replacement could be a reasonable repair. And it's about 1.5 zillion times easier than in any current MacBook Pro.
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The final bits in the rear case include the still-modular headphone jack—which you can squeak out from under the main board if you're careful.
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Of minor note: the Surface Connect cable harness looks a bit more put together this time, clothed in handsome black tape instead of a rainbow of wire insulation. It's somethin'!
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This concludes one very surprising Surface Laptop teardown.
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Based on its superficial similarity to past Surface Laptop designs, we would have expected something completely non-serviceable. Instead, the 3rd-generation Surface Laptop has swerved confidently into a better, more repairable direction.
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Microsoft pulled this off without making the laptop one iota thicker or clunkier, defying all the naysayers who claim repairable designs can't be sleek and attractive.
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While this iteration is still far from perfect, if Microsoft continues in this direction, the future of their laptop line is bright. There are some very clever design-for-repairability touches in this machine.
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Let's give it a score.
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- The opening procedure is straightforward, with a clever design that represents a dramatic improvement over its predecessors.
- The M.2 SSD is fully modular and easy to access.
- Torx Plus screws call for relatively rare drivers, but our standard Torx drivers worked in a pinch.
- Display access is well-prioritized, but must be replaced as an (expensive) complete unit—subcomponents aren't modular.
- While many components are modular, intricate layered construction makes them difficult to service.
- The firmly glued-down battery will be very difficult to service when it inevitably goes kaput.
Final Thoughts
Repairability Score
(10 is easiest to repair)
21 Comments
Seems like they had the space to work with in there to make this use higher wattage parts. As it stands, it’s effectively a 15W ultrabook tier APU in a 15” housing, with the main (and possibly only) benefit for the larger size being the larger screen itself, instead of something like the XPS 15 or MBP 15 etc that use the larger size for higher TDP chips.
I wonder if it’s easy to find ssd in 2230 form factor in market. I can’t even find it in my country. Also, does it support NVMe protocol?
I couldn’t find any on Newegg.com or Amazon.com. Google shopping turned up a few; but most if not all look like OEM parts. Anandtech’s predicting m.2 2230 and a new sdcard sized form factor (intended to compete against soldiered eMMC) are going to be common in next generation compact laptops; but right now it looks like it’s going to be slim pickings.
It is not too hard (easy) to find the 2230 ssd:
-OEM: WD SN520, Toshiba BG3, SK Hynix BC501, all are 2230
-Toshiba RC100 2242, WD SN500 2280 -> just cut the ssd. The board is longer than 30mm but contains nothing.
Duy Thai -
Honestly, this thing is absolutely disgusting in its waste of internal volume. So many missed opportunities. They could have *at least* done what Apple does with available space and filled it up with speakers.