Microsoft Surface Book Review: Company's 'Ultimate Laptop's' Repairability Worse than Surface Pro 4; CPU Impossible to Replace

Expert laptop technicians advises users of the Microsoft Surface Book to not repair the device on their own. The first notebook offering from Microsoft is reportedly hard to fix, even by those who consider themselves professionals.

According to Design & Trend, computer geeks recently placed the Surface Book under scrutiny in terms of repairability and found that Microsoft's recently proclaimed direct competitor to the Apple Macbook Pro presents a serious challenge when it comes to repairs.

As shown on a YouTube video posted by IFixIt.com, the high-performance laptop-slash-tablet requires high level of expertise and experience before one can pry out its components. To open the high-end device, one needs to apply heat on the edge of the screen before carefully pulling it away from the metal frame. Exerting too much force can break the glass.

Once opened, the Surface Book then presents a series of challenges to anyone who dare attempts to repair the device, as the motherboard is positioned upside down.

That means to see other components of the laptop's internal construction, one needs to remove the motherboard entirely out of the way, according to Extreme Tech. To do that, one has to detach the myriad of connectors; almost all of them are taped and glued down. The Surface Pro's internal components are fixed together with adhesives, not screws, which makes the repair process frustrating.

Another problem that comes with the Surface Book is its CPU and the new RAM module are both soldered to the motherboard, which makes it almost impossible to replace the said components. Engineers from IFixIt described the whole process "nerve wracking," particularly when removing the combined unit's glass and touch sensor.

The only positive note to the whole repair process is that the SSD and battery of the Surface Book are replaceable.

With a repairability score of 1 out of 10, the lowest possible score for repairability, consumers are strongly urged by experts to not try and pry the hybrid laptop on their own when their Microsoft Surface Book bogs down in the future.