© iFixit
Teardowns | July 09, 2014
Surface Pro 3 Teardown
If thin is in, then thinner must be...inner. Microsoft made serious strides, taking their Surface Pro series closer to the laptop frontier than ever before, while still keeping up with the tablet game.
Result: a slim, uber-powered tablet with paper thin display glass, and severely limited upgradeability and repairability. The Surface Pro 3 traded the 2’s 90+ screws for some seriously hideous adhesive, and consolidated even more components into un-modular land. You’ll spend less time with a driver, but repairs won’t be any easier. The Surface Pro 3 inherited a repairability score of 1 out of 10, proving the more things change, the more they remain the same.
A cursory look is all it takes to tell us we're gonna need to bring the heat for a display-first invasion. Unfortunately, the Pro 3's weak point is just that—a point of weakness. As the glass cooled around an opening pick, it shattered. The Pro 3's biggest advancement is a display that's harder than ever to remove.
In disconnecting the display we find something novel: a springy metal bracket pinning the display connector in place. At the other end of the cable, another dubious connector with a sliver of a contact board in tow.
Safety first! We disconnect the battery before charging forth. This battery connector requires a relatively uncommon T3 Torx bit. This Surface is packing a 42.2 Wh, 7.6 V, lithium ion time bomb.
We find a cooling system more akin to one found in a laptop than a tablet: a beefy heat sink that draws into a single fan.
We're happy to see that Microsoft still provides a microSD card slot. While it is not exactly all we hope and dream for in terms of expandable storage, it is a welcome inclusion.
-----
As always, loads more can be found at © iFixit.
Teardown highlights:
A cursory look is all it takes to tell us we're gonna need to bring the heat for a display-first invasion. Unfortunately, the Pro 3's weak point is just that—a point of weakness. As the glass cooled around an opening pick, it shattered. The Pro 3's biggest advancement is a display that's harder than ever to remove.
In disconnecting the display we find something novel: a springy metal bracket pinning the display connector in place. At the other end of the cable, another dubious connector with a sliver of a contact board in tow.
Safety first! We disconnect the battery before charging forth. This battery connector requires a relatively uncommon T3 Torx bit. This Surface is packing a 42.2 Wh, 7.6 V, lithium ion time bomb.
We find a cooling system more akin to one found in a laptop than a tablet: a beefy heat sink that draws into a single fan.
We're happy to see that Microsoft still provides a microSD card slot. While it is not exactly all we hope and dream for in terms of expandable storage, it is a welcome inclusion.
CHiPs action:
- 1.9 GHz dual core Core i5-4300U with Intel HD Graphics 4400
- Samsung K4E8E304ED-EGCE 8 Gb (1 GB) LPDDR3 RAM (total of 4 * 1 GB = 4 GB)
- Marvell 88W8897 WLAN + BT4.0 + NFC Combo Chip
- Winbond 25X20CL1G 2M-Bit Serial Flash Memory
- Winbond 25Q128FVPQ 128M-Bit Serial Flash Memory
- Infineon SLB 9665 TT2.0 Security Cryptocontroller for Trusted Platform Modules
- NXP CBTL06GP213 Six-Channel Multiplexer
- Atmel UC256L3U 256KB Flash, 32-bit AVR Microcontroller
- Winbond 25X40CL1G 4M-bit Serial Flash
- Realtek ALC3264 Audio Codec
- SK Hynix H27QEGDVEBLR 32 GB NAND Flash (four ICs for 128 GB total)
- SK Hynix H5PS2G63JMR 32 MB DDR2 SDRAM
- Link A Media LM87800AA SSD Controller
- N-trig DS-P4196 Touch Controller
-----
As always, loads more can be found at © iFixit.
Ultralife Corporation awarded a $8.3M supply contract
Ultralife Corporation has been awarded a contract valued at approximately USD 8.3 million...
Exagan forms Taiwan subsidiary – opens centre in Taipei
GaN semiconductor specialist, Exagan, says that it has established Exagan Taiwan Ltd...
Photomask maker Compugraphics with new hire and sales office
Photomask manufacturer, Compugraphics – a business operated as a division of...
Smiths Group to acquire United Flexible
Smiths Group plc has entered into an agreement to acquire United Flexible, Inc., a provider...
Ad
Cree inks long-term silicon carbide wafer supply agreement
Cree says that it signed a strategic long-term agreement to produce and supply its...
Toshiba to expand with new production facility in Japan
Toshiba Corporation says that it will reinforce production production of its SCiB lithium-ion...
Fingerprint is looking to strengthen its position in India
Swedish biometrics company Fingerprint Cards has entered into a collaboration with a new...
Kyocera increase production capacity for pastes with new facility
Kyocera Corporation says that it has started construction of a new manufacturing facility on...
Varroc Lighting increase production in Czech Republic
Varroc Lighting Systems is significantly increasing of its production capabilities in the...
Squire team up with electronics giant Ennoconn
Squire Mining says that the company has appointed Ennoconn Corporation as its...
Apple buys part of Dialog’s business for $600 million
Dialog Semiconductor announces an agreement with Apple to license certain of its power management technologies, transfer certain of its assets and over 300 employees to the Cupertino company to support chip research and...
Micron to invest $100 million in artificial intelligence startups
Micron Ventures says it will invest up to USD 100 million in venture funding targeted at technology startups focused on artificial intelligence (AI), with twenty percent aimed at startups led by women and other underrepresented groups.
Data Respons acquires technology companies
Data Respons ASA says that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares...
Volvo Cars and NVIDIA deepen ties
Swedish car maker, Volvo Cars, and NVIDIA, are joining forces for the development of a highly...
Continued strong growth for UK distributors
UK Authorised Distributors report continuing strong revenue growth in August ’18 reflecting...
US Government bans import of rare-earth magnets
In the recently published ‘'National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019’’', the US government per 10 U.S.C 2533C banned the use of rare-earth permanent magnets, e.g. NdFeB and SmCo as...
Samtec acquires PCI
The interconnect specialist announces that it has recently acquired the assets and...
DRAM and NAND Flash products with price decline in 4Q/18 and 2019
DRAM products have begun to see a weak price trend, showing only a 1~2% QoQ hike in...
ON Semi acquires a bigger share of Fujitsu’s 8-inch wafer fab
ON Semiconductor has completed a 20 percent share purchase of Fujitsu’s 8-inch...
Neo Lights’ looking to bring manufacturing to India
Neo Lights Holdings, a developer and manufacturer of LED technologies, is looking to...
Most Read
Load more news
Comments