Thank you for this post. The information is still relevant and useful. I had a Surface pro that was still working but the battery swelled up and was no longer holding a charge. I had to connect the charger to use it. Microsoft service center said that they no longer repair that model so I bought a replacement battery on ebay and used the instructions above to replace the battery. Although the above instructions were not complete, I learned a few things along the way and successfully replaced the battery. My Microsoft Surface pro has a new lease of life. I've got windows 10 on it and a 512gb flash drive in addition to the 64gb rom, so it will serve me for a few more years. Regards.
I'm typing this on the Pro that I got about when you uploaded this and I still prefer it over everything else I used since then. Only the battery connector is driving me crazy. thanks for your video. i might need it, cause my battery starts to fall apart, after over 7 years.
I like this guy for the simple fact that he doesn't find it necessary to mention Apple in every single video, differentiating himself from all other CNET employees.
I have one of these and found this helpful. I'm on it now. What is not mentioned is that even the upscale keyboard is deficient and often comes detatched!
Not directly. People report trouble with getting the device to recognize larger SSD's. a solution has been floating around where you would make a byte copy (image) of the original SSD and dump it to the larger SSD. Align the image to 0, and then expand the partition to fill the new larger SSD.
In replying to the other comment, the digitizer is not soldered to the motherboard, I've done it so I know, not sure where you're getting your information, go to ifixit and do a little research. I attached the screen & digitizer back to the surface using the 3m double sided tape for digitizers, you can get it off of eBay. It's a universal tape, I got the wider tape and I've had no issues with the screen coming off.
would the system still boot with the screen removed and using only the mini display adapter? I would like to make sure everything is working before gluing the screen back on....
Surface Pro is an amazing achievement in design, power, and portability. It essentially created a category of its own...a full powered pc in a tablet form factor. The keyboards are also quite an achievement in design and functionality. And lastly, Windows8 finally makes sense using a touch screen tablet. I own an ipad3, galaxy note 10.1, and this Surface. The Surface is what I always wanted in a tablet. Can't wait for version 2 with the intel Haswell chip.
i dont see why not (128 is probably as big as they get in that size though) but i don't see why anyone would go though all this for any reason, plus afterwards you have to glue the screen back on
The question I have is about the hard drive. Is it a SATA SSD or an NVMe SSD, and what size is it (length, not capacity)... Cause if I am going to go through the hassles and headaches involved in disassembling this, I will both be upgrading the thermal compound AND putting a MUCH larger drive in it if I can find one.
My dumb surface pro developed issue where it would self delete it's own drivers. I always had to wipe the system clean but the issue kept happening till one fateful evening where it deleted it's own recharging drivers so it went dead completely, not able to charge.
I’ve had mine for 8 years and the battery life is horrible now, so I wanted to replace it. After watching how complicated it looks I think I might just with that until it doesn’t function anymore…
Oh people give me a break, this is easier to service than an iPad and yes I've repaired screens on both. I bought a broken 64gb Surface Pro off Ebay replaced the screen and SSD. I knew nothing about repairing it other than reading all the biased reviews saying how impossible it is, even ifixit says how bad it is. Since I don't believe everything I read I tried anyway and successfully repaired it using the guide on ifixit and installed a 480GB M500 Crucial msata. Don't believe everything you read, it's not easy I will say that but it's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be.
Ouch,...hope I never need to service mine,....thats scary, what ever happened to the clip or screw....so far only issue I'm encountering is very poor battery life.
i use the surface pro 1 as my pain pc.. have done for 4 years straight.. no issues except the heavy weight .. and the power connector is pretty stupid...but i can see what they have attempted to do.. would be better if it was easier to locate into its recces.. all in all a brilliant bit of kit !
still rocking my surface pro 1 (luckyly i have a rare 256gb model), just bought the docking station so i dopn't have to deal with plugging everything on my desk. As you said, amazing as a main pc!!
You would need a BGA Rework station to removed the soldered on CPU. And even if you do replace the CPU they may have a "handshake" between the bios and the cpu to prevent being used with another CPU
Hello, I would like to ask if there is any difference between digitizer for Microsoft Surface RT 1 and Surface PRO 1. They can be exchanged? Thank you. Plíva
Petr Pliva A bit late, but the surface pro model's screen has digitizer support. Which means it can use a stylus on the screen with pressure sensitivity and palm rejection etc.. I assume that the screens would not be compatible due to the surface RT not supplying the same capabilities screen wise.
when is the price gonna get down. i would not risk taking this to a place like the gym. the atom based version would be better. seriouslt the atom version is powerful enoug for everyday productivity. How often an average consumer gonna use the Core i potentials?
I was wondering why when I picked up this tablet it felt so well built. The screen doesn't seem like it needs to be pushed back into place (Samsung Series 7 tablet). Nor does the corners dent when bumped up against something (Asus EP 121). I'd pick well built/hard to repair over poorly built/easy to repair any day.
i have to do that to replace thermal paste and upgrade ssd... like modern surfaces... just y microsoft i thought when i heard remove kickstand it wouldnt need heat and deadhearing
Un-reasonable small size of the HD disk (64GB, 128GB SSD) and 4gb system ram make Surface pro become an almost “ unless “ device in many real application expect from general office application , web browsing, video watching, playing some game... etc.
which is what almost everyone use their pc for. Still rocking my SP1 since early 2014. It's my main PC, the second one being an 8th gen intel + gtx 1070
Bro seriously do you want it or do you want to destroy it....it dosnt matter how they build it what matters is what it can do....and it can do every thing
I want a Tablet that can play Battlefield 3 and have HDMI out to use on tvs and projectors. So i can have a tablet for notes and standing on a floor pitches, can do all my MS Office needs, and mobile gaming AND hook up to a tv or projector for serious off time gaming in one $800 unit
In real “ productive ” practice, 256GB ssd & 8GB ram is the entry ticket. To a causal office application user, it is a nice machine. But, “Surface pro” definitively is not a “pro” device as it's named.
Lol, what tablet is "pro" tthen? Of course you cannot compare it to a workstation, but that'd be stupid. It's also not desigend for envireonments where rugged devices are meant for.
Thank you for this post. The information is still relevant and useful. I had a Surface pro that was still working but the battery swelled up and was no longer holding a charge. I had to connect the charger to use it. Microsoft service center said that they no longer repair that model so I bought a replacement battery on ebay and used the instructions above to replace the battery. Although the above instructions were not complete, I learned a few things along the way and successfully replaced the battery. My Microsoft Surface pro has a new lease of life. I've got windows 10 on it and a 512gb flash drive in addition to the 64gb rom, so it will serve me for a few more years. Regards.
I'm typing this on the Pro that I got about when you uploaded this and I still prefer it over everything else I used since then. Only the battery connector is driving me crazy. thanks for your video. i might need it, cause my battery starts to fall apart, after over 7 years.
I like this guy for the simple fact that he doesn't find it necessary to mention Apple in every single video, differentiating himself from all other CNET employees.
I have one of these and found this helpful. I'm on it now. What is not mentioned is that even the upscale keyboard is deficient and often comes detatched!
The green screen effects are fantastic
This was the best most succinct technology dyi I have ever seen... I love to work for you jaibgaines
Wow!!
Thank you so much professor now my dilemma of opening my surface pro is solved.
Not directly. People report trouble with getting the device to recognize larger SSD's. a solution has been floating around where you would make a byte copy (image) of the original SSD and dump it to the larger SSD. Align the image to 0, and then expand the partition to fill the new larger SSD.
In replying to the other comment, the digitizer is not soldered to the motherboard, I've done it so I know, not sure where you're getting your information, go to ifixit and do a little research.
I attached the screen & digitizer back to the surface using the 3m double sided tape for digitizers, you can get it off of eBay. It's a universal tape, I got the wider tape and I've had no issues with the screen coming off.
i wanted to see how you put it back together and got the seal like new again
Have one about five years old , it quit and will not boot. Does it have a hard drive.? you said two fans, then it has solid drive? What happened?
Hi, I have a surface pro 2 where the power button doesn't work. Once the screen is off is the power button easy to replace or fix?
would the system still boot with the screen removed and using only the mini display adapter? I would like to make sure everything is working before gluing the screen back on....
It’s 2019 and my 2013 Surface Pro 2 is still working fine and as such I have no need to get inside it....
im nearly positive that this cooling assembly would work better than the one in my mac book pro
Surface Pro is an amazing achievement in design, power, and portability. It essentially created a category of its own...a full powered pc in a tablet form factor. The keyboards are also quite an achievement in design and functionality. And lastly, Windows8 finally makes sense using a touch screen tablet. I own an ipad3, galaxy note 10.1, and this Surface. The Surface is what I always wanted in a tablet. Can't wait for version 2 with the intel Haswell chip.
FYI
It already did.
It was posted yesterday
What you were using that heatgun for, Ifix it developed a tool to do it much more safely. Bought it to repair my surface pro.....
That video was made 3 years ago, before ifixit made that tool. Besides, some people prefer heat guns rather than their overpriced tool
Is the ram can be upgraded?
I am from future and i can assure you even in 2021 Microsoft still makes devices that are equipped with 64gb of internal storage.
He's not a normal reviewer, he tests how easy it is to open and fix products.
Does anyone know if the battery for Pro4 is the same as for Pro1? The only battery I can find today (2022) is for Pro4. It looks the same though.
i dont see why not (128 is probably as big as they get in that size though)
but i don't see why anyone would go though all this for any reason, plus afterwards you have to glue the screen back on
The question I have is about the hard drive. Is it a SATA SSD or an NVMe SSD, and what size is it (length, not capacity)...
Cause if I am going to go through the hassles and headaches involved in disassembling this, I will both be upgrading the thermal compound AND putting a MUCH larger drive in it if I can find one.
unfortunately it's a sata ssd,its about the size of a laptop network pci-e card
Lots of other companies have built sturdy tablets without that many screws.
My dumb surface pro developed issue where it would self delete it's own drivers. I always had to wipe the system clean but the issue kept happening till one fateful evening where it deleted it's own recharging drivers so it went dead completely, not able to charge.
What's the price of a replaced sad 128gb
I’ve had mine for 8 years and the battery life is horrible now, so I wanted to replace it. After watching how complicated it looks I think I might just with that until it doesn’t function anymore…
What kind of SSD has this surface??? M2?
hii i have a problem with my surface pro 3 tablet, its not coming on but its charging. please how can i change the processor...
Oh people give me a break, this is easier to service than an iPad and yes I've repaired screens on both. I bought a broken 64gb Surface Pro off Ebay replaced the screen and SSD. I knew nothing about repairing it other than reading all the biased reviews saying how impossible it is, even ifixit says how bad it is. Since I don't believe everything I read I tried anyway and successfully repaired it using the guide on ifixit and installed a 480GB M500 Crucial msata.
Don't believe everything you read, it's not easy I will say that but it's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be.
MS wont sell components to repair this unit yourself so how did you get the parts?
You do realize Microsoft doesn't make this tablet, right? It's made by Asus I believe. Check Ebay, more expensive now but they are on there.
Hey do you know if it's possible to add or upgrade ram. I'm trying to get 16gb of ram in there.
carlos3salas LOL.
What did you do to reattach the display?
What temperature setting are you using with your heat gun? Thanks
what temp ?
Ouch,...hope I never need to service mine,....thats scary, what ever happened to the clip or screw....so far only issue I'm encountering is very poor battery life.
is it possible to change the battery?
you would need to get the low profile msata ssds.
If you only get 23gb out of the 64gb model then what kinda stuff do they have on that? What operating system really takes that much space?
Windows, lol
cracked the screen trying to open... why did they make like this?
so you have to buy another ..
While u at it can you replace the ssd for a larger capacity ssd?
I have a surface pro 2017 with an i5, I would very much like a dual fan cooling system please!
i use the surface pro 1 as my pain pc.. have done for 4 years straight.. no issues except the heavy weight .. and the power connector is pretty stupid...but i can see what they have attempted to do.. would be better if it was easier to locate into its recces.. all in all a brilliant bit of kit !
still rocking my surface pro 1 (luckyly i have a rare 256gb model), just bought the docking station so i dopn't have to deal with plugging everything on my desk. As you said, amazing as a main pc!!
hola
Am I the only who is MORE interested because it's a challenge to open and modify?
Who would disassemble that thing?
I have a question, can I take out the CPU, I have a computer and would like to upgrade it to an i5. I have an old out of use Surface Pro.
+Spario no
+dada236 you can't replace the CPU? can't you heat gun it off? or does it use pins?
You would need a BGA Rework station to removed the soldered on CPU. And even if you do replace the CPU they may have a "handshake" between the bios and the cpu to prevent being used with another CPU
Can someone tell me what is the correct model of the SSD for my Surface pro 1?. thanks for your support.
Full windows 8, an entire recovery partition, and a trial system of Microsoft office.
I am fascinated of what it's inside looks like, but I wouldn't risk breaking the device that's worth $1000+
you are mixing up the terms, it costs $1000+ but its worth $100ish, I found the surface to be the worst computer I have ever owned :)
Hello, I would like to ask if there is any difference between digitizer for Microsoft Surface RT 1 and Surface PRO 1. They can be exchanged? Thank you. Plíva
Petr Pliva A bit late, but the surface pro model's screen has digitizer support. Which means it can use a stylus on the screen with pressure sensitivity and palm rejection etc.. I assume that the screens would not be compatible due to the surface RT not supplying the same capabilities screen wise.
when is the price gonna get down. i would not risk taking this to a place like the gym. the atom based version would be better. seriouslt the atom version is powerful enoug for everyday productivity. How often an average consumer gonna use the Core i potentials?
i think that the ssd is a msata one. just buy a bigger one and clone the old drive to the new one. the only problem is to crack open it
Help drivers wifi surface pro 3 please
I was wondering why when I picked up this tablet it felt so well built. The screen doesn't seem like it needs to be pushed back into place (Samsung Series 7 tablet). Nor does the corners dent when bumped up against something (Asus EP 121). I'd pick well built/hard to repair over poorly built/easy to repair any day.
URGENT. hi what type of battery is it??
i have to do that to replace thermal paste and upgrade ssd... like modern surfaces... just y microsoft i thought when i heard remove kickstand it wouldnt need heat and deadhearing
That's weak! So I cant upgrade the hdd & the ram?? No point in getting now... :/
Un-reasonable small size of the HD disk (64GB, 128GB SSD) and 4gb system ram make Surface pro become an almost “ unless “ device in many real application expect from general office application , web browsing, video watching, playing some game... etc.
which is what almost everyone use their pc for. Still rocking my SP1 since early 2014. It's my main PC, the second one being an 8th gen intel + gtx 1070
Well it still should not take up that much space.
8 million screws and a glued screen... What a nightmare to repair. I haven't bought it yet and I already want to put in the trash.
Or a tablet for that matter.
Bro seriously do you want it or do you want to destroy it....it dosnt matter how they build it what matters is what it can do....and it can do every thing
I would love to do that but i am afraid i will break something
Paint sprayed from the other side.
When is season 3 of Always On going to start
I was hoping to separate the Back-light from the LCD monitor. Why must Microsoft make it so hard to tinker with. X/
its hard to change fans
Why get that when u can get the Asus infinity prime so much better...
Not much to see though.
I want a Tablet that can play Battlefield 3 and have HDMI out to use on tvs and projectors. So i can have a tablet for notes and standing on a floor pitches, can do all my MS Office needs, and mobile gaming AND hook up to a tv or projector for serious off time gaming in one $800 unit
screw that ..
seksĺ
Or glue.
Suface pro 7 -> Disk -> kbg40zpz256g toshiba -> Toshiba BG4 NVMe SSD
That is why he receives less.
Maybe microsoft could have spared an few hundred screws and given the surface pro at least +1 hour battery more...
I STRONGLY recommend getting the SMALLER Surface, and cracking it open to put a 512 GB SSD into it
And I want a small dog size T-Rex as a pet.
better said MS screws...
yes you're the only
That was their point, no one sane.
ipad seems less confusing
Too expensive for what it provides. Sorry but after I did had it i never went back to buy the next gen. Totally a bs, for me at least.
Obviously, its a green screen
I can only leave my surface in sleep otherwise it takes days to wake up using all kinds of painful procedures
i would reset / reformat
In real “ productive ” practice, 256GB ssd & 8GB ram is the entry ticket. To a causal office application user, it is a nice machine. But, “Surface pro” definitively is not a “pro” device as it's named.
sadge. windows 8 wasn't good. only if windows 8.1 was the product they had released first
Good luck with that....
I judge this video on how i like the ads
Lol, what tablet is "pro" tthen? Of course you cannot compare it to a workstation, but that'd be stupid. It's also not desigend for envireonments where rugged devices are meant for.
так говорит будто смартфоны samsung A и S серии разбираются вообще проще простого, surface разбирается как любой другой гаджет со вклеенным модулем
Except 512GB mSATA SSDs don't exist...
no toys should confusing any kids
Bad green screen is bad.
Heat gun, no disassembly for 99% of people.
u can just build your own computer more powerful with that money
Thats WHY you shouldn't buy microsoft. Servicing is necessary. Hiding screws is stupid.
been using an old pro 1 for about 5 years DAILY never failed me.. so is servicing THAT necessary ?
You should delete this video, cause we don't need to use the heat gun.
exellent
the Pro is great.. but the RT is beyond shit !
just upload your own truth hiding video
dirty motherboard compare to mac
lol. mac... no thanks
don t buy microsoft...
lol LG Batteries.