What’s the first thing that happens to a new tech product following its launch these days? It gets torn apart, of course, and that’s just what the folks at iFixit have done with Microsoft’s latest device.
The new all-in-one Surface Studio has been designed to fold almost completely flat in order to, as the company puts it, “help you bring your ideas to life”.
It’s certainly a novel approach to the desktop computer, and one which we’re excited to test out for ourselves. But before the tech world gets to grips with the Surface Studio’s functionality, iFixit has given us a look under the hood.
Related: Surface Studio – Everything you need to know
So, what did the teardown specialists find? First up, the new device uses Intel’s x86 architecture, along with an ARM chip powering the PixelSense display.
The teardown also revealed the whole case isn’t glued shut, which the team points out is a welcome development at a time when most companies seem to prefer that less repairable method.
What’s more, the investigation showed the Surface Studio’s screen is replaceable, but doing so is likely to cost you a fair amount.
Unfortunately, it looks as though upgrading the core aspects of the machine is going to be a tad tricky as Microsoft has seemingly done all it can to prevent such modification.
The RAM, CPU, and GPU are all soldered to the motherboard, so switching them out isn’t really an option, and if you’re planning on picking up the 8GB RAM ‘entry-level’ model, you might be interested to learn about the lack of upgrade options.
Related: CES 2017
Overall, the iFixit crew concluded that Microsoft’s latest deserved a repairability score of 5 out of 10, which is in line with the 5K iMac and one of the best scores for a Surface product yet.
On the positive side, the site praised the fact the base is easy to open “and home to several modular components—including the standard SATA hard drive and M.2 SSD—that can be replaced without disassembling the display”.
But the fact the RAM, CPU, and GPU are soldered to the board lost the Surface Studio some points, as did the difficult to replace components embedded in the display.
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Let us know what you think of the teardown results in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
