Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Teardown

Geschrieben von: Andrew Optimus Goldheart
Veröffentlicht: 23/06/14
  • Kommentare: 87

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Teardown

Veröffentlicht: 23/06/14

Teardown

Einleitung

It has finally come: Microsoft's all-new Surface Pro 3—all-new in the sense that it's third in a trilogy of devices. Where the second was actually just a rehashing of the original, the third is showing some promise of striking out on its own. Good for you, Surface Pro 3! Time to confirm or deny the only way we know how—it's teardown time.

Alternative names that Microsoft probably considered for the Surface Pro 3:

  • Surface Pro: Return of the King
  • Surface Pro III: The Search for Spock
  • Sufrace Pro: With a Vengeance
  • Surface Pro and the Last Crusade
  • Surface Pro: Rise of the Machines
  • Surface Pro: Revolutions

Surf over to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages to stay up to date, Pro-style.

  1. l4tuY2gBh3yfbtw4

    • The Surface Pro 3's beauty isn't just skin deep—which is just as well, because we're not stopping until we hit bone. Innards include:

    • 12" ClearType Full HD Plus IPS LCD with a resolution of 2160 x 1440 pixels

    • 4th-generation Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 (i5 on our model)

    • Wi-Fi 802.11ac/802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy

    • 64 GB/128 GB storage with 4 GB RAM, or 256 GB/512 GB storage with 8GB RAM

    • 5.0 MP/1080p front and rear-facing cameras

    • Full-size USB 3.0 port, microSD card reader, and Mini DisplayPort

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    • The Surface Pro 3 comes bundled with a new version of the Surface Pen, courtesy of N-trig.

    • What happened to the old pen? We like to think it now adorns a Mercedes.

    • If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Microsoft sticks to the kickstand design so prominent in past revisions of the Surface Pro—with the addition of a 150° angle option, allowing the Surface to lay nearly flat.

  3. Users asked for some more about the kickstand—here's our in-depth, hands-on review, with all of the gory details:

    • Users asked for some more about the kickstand—here's our in-depth, hands-on review, with all of the gory details:

    • FLAP FLAP FLAP. It flaps.

    • If you liked this video, don't forget to subscribe.

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    • True to its name, this threequel brings its hardware in triplicate:

    • Arrayed across the back, we find the rear-facing camera, accompanied by two additional specks—a status LED and a microphone.

    • And along the edge, another trio, this one for connectivity: a full-size USB 3.0 port, Mini DisplayPort, and the charging port.

    • Hiding beneath the kickstand is the microSD card slot, good for up to 128 GB of additional storage.

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    • A cursory look is all it takes to tell us we're gonna need to bring the heat for a display-first invasion. Out comes the trusty iOpener.

    • If the old Surface Pro 2 is anything to go by, we're gonna need picks—oodles and oodles of picks.

    • These speaker cutouts give us a handy point of access.

    • Picks, away!

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    • Whoops.

    • Unfortunately, the Pro 3's weak point is just that—a point of weakness.

    • Our teardown engineer carefully heated and pried up the glass at the edge of this device, but the cooling adhesive alone was enough to crack the glass on our photo table.

    • Microsoft went to great lengths to make the Surface Pro 3 super portable, thinning it down from the Pro 2's 0.53" to a mere 0.36" thick—but it seems the thinner glass does not bode well for ruggedness, or repair.

    • We'll just work down here as that crack spreads quicker than an army across Westeros...

    parsing very difficult(((

    VISION463 -

    Did the crack occur as a result of the pick being inserted and the glass cooling too quickly, or was it strictly a result of the thermal expansion of the screen cooling? i.e. if I had someone standing there with a heat gun till I`d gotten the screen loose or some such...

    variable -

    The crack appeared spontaneously after the prying picture in step 5, so we're assuming it was a result of the adhesive cooling and pulling the screen down against the lodged-in pick. Keeping heat on the device the entire time would probably have prevented it, but it was certainly markedly more difficult to pull off an intact screen than it was with the previous surface pro.

    Andrew Optimus Goldheart -

    What happens when the heatsink gets a years worth of dust buildup? How will the user clean it?

    inuyasha6332 -

    The user cleans it by cleaning their wallet on a new Surface Pro 4.

    Charles Goodwin -

    I honestly think that there are serious durability concerns with the screen. My Surface Pro 3 toppled forward from the default standing position after a very minor knock onto the type cover. No excessive force was applied. No drops. The screen fractured around the microphone hole next to the camera with the crack then spreading out over the whole screen.

    Up until that point I loved the device, but now I question it's durability as a laptop replacement. :( Now I just had to wait three weeks until the device is available in my country and pay $300 USD to get it fixed :(

    Alex -

    Just open the Surface Pro 3 screen yesterday to replace the SSD.

    Screen didn't crack and everything working fine after upgraded SSD from 128GB to 500GB

    trungvo47 -

    Hi Trungvo47, I'd be super interested/grateful to hear any tips you picked up from your successful upgrade. With regards to the glass obviously - ifixit have us pretty well covered for the rest :) I know you posted 2 years ago but if you or anyone else can share success stories it'd be really good to people like me who have never owned a thing they didn't strip down for some reason at some point. %#*@ I hate these "disposable devices", no fun at all.

    Edit: major lols @ the censorship of the word very similar to danm

    imoddedit -

    It’s almost impossible to do any repairs without damaging this screen… The best way I’ve found is to buy a 100 pack of straight edge razor blades, heat the glass edge and insert one blade at a time and leave each blade in until you have the entire outside edge of the screen filled with blades… Then one last quick heat up of the entire screen before gently prying up the screen using the outside handling edge of the razor blades…

    george andrews -

    Theres a much simpler way to remove it… and if you have experience removing imac screens you should know the answer…. its called the pizza cutter… the imac screen removal tool from the kit… along with the black stick solder guide tool and some kind of heat gun. in my case I used a butane soldering wand with the heat blower tool. Behind the kick stand looking at the hinges theres a pin hole which you can apply some pressure with the black stick while applying heat around that area on top then you slide in the pizza cutter on that side edge and start rolling while applying heat along the edges as you roll and take your time. turns out that center part is where theres the least ammount of adhesive to start your prying process. you should be able to undo the adhesive without cracking the screen. Camera part of the screen has the most adhesive so you might have to apply extra time with heat and several passes with pizza cutter. if careful comes out perfect. No wedge tools needed.

    John Rosario -

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    • We stick it to this unruly device—tape, that is—to keep all the pieces together while we pry everything up.

    • Much more heat, and plenty of gentle prying and cutting, and the glue starts to give...

    • We will win against the Kragle and its adhesive friends. We've got a job to do.

    • Defenses breached, we get our first look beneath the Surface's surface. This gooey glue certainly fought hard to keep the Pro 3's innards a secret. Time will tell if this extra security was warranted...

    Where can I send feedback for the removal of the screen… theres a much simpler way to remove it… and if you have experience removing imac screens you should know the answer…. its called the pizza cutter… the imac screen removal tool from the kit… along with the black stick solder guide tool and some kind of heat gun. in my case I used a butane soldering wand with the heat blower tool. Behind the kick stand looking at the hinges theres a pin hole which you can apply some pressure with the black stick while applying heat around that area on top then you slide in the pizza cutter on that side edge and start rolling while applying heat along the edges as you roll and take your time. turns out that center part is where theres the least ammount of adhesive to start your prying process. you should be able to undo the adhesive without cracking the screen. Camera part of the screen has the most adhesive so you might have to apply extra time with heat and several passes with pizza cutter. if careful comes out perfect.

    John Rosario -

    no wedge tools needed…

    John Rosario -

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    • While we're storming the castle—er, display, we find something new: a springy metal bracket pinning the display connector in place. It's not the friendliest of chums, but with a little convincing from our spudger, it agrees to let the connector go.

    • At the other end of the cable, another dubious connector with a sliver of a contact board in tow. Because, why not?

    • But really, we theorize that this is a thinner, cheaper connector than something utilizing a physical snap. We first saw this sort of contact on the 13" MacBook Pro Retina.

    • Hugging the back of the display is an N-trig DS-P4196 touch controller, providing the necessary tech to go with the pressure-sensitive Surface Pen.

    What display panel is the SP3 using?

    cruxiaervance -

    SP3 is fragile .. dropped today from 3 feet on concrete .. I have never seen a bigger crack and screen came apart in pieces !! SP3 is way more fragile than any other tablet on the market.. !

    Silver Silver -

    im wondering why it doesn't make more sense to place the heat on the metal edges of the casing rather than the glass screen so that it will expand away from the glass as the adhesive melts(like running a glued tight jelly jar under hot water)

    tiarafalk -

    Mech engineer here: @tiarafalk, unfortunately, thermal expansion doesn't work like that. Heating metal vs the screen will still cause anything that expands to do so uniformly in all directions, i.e. things don't expand "directionally". However, if the thermal expansion coefficient (k) of metal is higher than glass/polymers-in-screen/etc, heating the metal may "open up the frame" a bit more so that the screen doesn't expand and butt up against the frame with enough stress to cause fracture. I'd be careful with that approach though because metal (especially aluminum) has a very high thermal conductivity, meaning anything it touches gets hot quick.

    It would be useful for someone to post a picture of where all the goo adhesive locations are on the backside of the screen (distance from edge, width of goo, continuous or not, etc) so that heat can be more strategically applied. The screen might actually be cracking because it's a bonded composite with materials of different k-values (think bimetallic strips).

    klouth1 -

    P.S. I will be replacing the front-facing camera bar in my SP3 soon (just waiting for all the parts/tools to arrive), and will document the process and let you guys know the results, particularly about removing the apparently very weak screen. Keep your fingers crossed!

    klouth1 -

    Hello guys,

    Apparently a friend of mine lost the little part that goes between the LCD flex and the logic board. Where can i find this part so i can buy it? Thank you all and awesome guide!

    Eduardo Javier -

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Microso...

    allysonyoung -

    Hi!, i want to connect my SP3 to a external screen (no by Display Port), whats the name of the connector in that goes out of the SP3. I mean the connector between the SP3 and the screen.

    Nicolás Rearte -

  9. KrIoCSJTC5sf2VpT
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    • Safety first! We disconnect the battery before charging forth. This battery connector requires a relatively uncommon T3 Torx bit. Lucky for us, our 54 Bit Driver Kit is never out of reach.

    • Next, we Ring Pop this surficial SSD up off the back case for a closer look.

    • You may be asking yourself, why a Ring Pop? As you well know, except for most natural blue diamonds, which are semiconductors due to substitutional boron impurities replacing carbon atoms, diamonds are a great electrical insulator, having a resistivity of 10^11 to 10^18 Ω·m. So really, we're just being careful.

    Hi,

    You might want to add a note about the interposer board between the battery flex (which is just copper pads) and the motherboard (which is also copper pads). The interposer has the springy contacts on it. It tends to stick to one side or the other pretending to be part of the connector, and then falls down the side of your workbench when you're not looking. Then the 'battery not found' errors start.....

    Cheers,

    Mark.

    Mark Connor -

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    • We have reached the battery. This Surface is packing a 42.2 Wh, 7.6 V, lithium ion time bomb.

    • All batteries die, making battery replacement a necessary repair for any device. Before we take a stab at disarming the bomb, we read all the warnings that we plan to ignore, including the very clear instruction that we are not to replace this battery. Well isn't that just swell.

    • At first pry, we notice lots of resistance, leaving us with the feeling there's an off-chance high likelihood we'll destroy this battery during removal—which makes us as nervous as the wicked witch around a bucket of water (that she has to pry open).

    • Time to get our pry on *insert high-brow joke about prions*

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    • This battery is stuck like a mastodon in a tar pit.

    • The tar-like adhesive makes removing the battery without severe warping nigh impossible.

    • The battery is out, but it looks like it passed through a fun house mirror to get free. We're not so fond of clowns who believe in glued-in batteries.

    • Think we're joking about the cling factor of this adhesive? Think again. This little party trick is what we call a sticky situation.

  13. dlgdaBnCKLCfljLT
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    • We begin excavating, and find that this Surface keeps a few secrets in between its battery cells.

    • This hidden battery board contains a Maxim Integrated MAX17817 battery management IC.

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    • This device seems to be a never-ending story of dark sticky adhesive.

    • We hope this is the end of Microsoft's silly putty and duck tape obsession.

    • We quickly vanquish the goop and free a slim peripheral board.

    • This thin little board seems to be home to the front facing camera and a few other goodies, including some residual adhesive. Gross.

    Hi All, the sensor cable 2nd in from left on the removed board, does anyone know what it is and where I can get a replacement from at all?

    Pete B -

    It’s RF isolator . I think you need to change all the removed board. What did you do?

    rikgarrod -

  15. npWrISXSTO52C1Kp
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    • Working our way towards the motherboard, we encounter some strange magic: a random hex bolt standoff.

    • Accio bolt! Fortunately, we come prepared: with our Pro Tech Toolkit, any hex is quickly lifted.

    • We have to keep working our magic to free the motherboard. Not only is it captive to the case, but it's covered in copper shielding, a counter-curse to outside magic.

  16. swZ5IxwByQDBTPeJ

    • With the mobo out, we caught a whole gaggle of ICs in the middle of a board meeting:

    • Samsung K4E8E304ED-EGCE 8 Gb (1 GB) LPDDR3 RAM (total of 4 * 1 GB = 4 GB) Two front, two back

    • Atmel AT24C16 two-wire serial EEPROM

    • Marvell 88W8897 WLAN + BT4.0 + NFC Combo Chip (with no NFC support on the device)

    • QIC1832-B98B

    • Winbond 25X20CL1G 2M-Bit Serial Flash Memory

    • Winbond 25Q128FVPQ 128M-Bit Serial Flash Memory

    Which is the bios chip if I corrupted it and need to replace?

    luggiero -

    The Winbond 25Q128FVPQ  is the bios Chip. He has 16 Mbyte Storage.

    Matthias Nixdorf -

    This S.H.I.T. is hilarious!! Very fuqqin clever indeed! (Close curtains) and my god how hard it is to purposely cuss l.m.f.a.o

    Keith Littrell -

  17. nEKPhsVyOgLZNlja

    • The rest of the cars on the front side of this chip train:

    • Infineon SLB 9665 TT2.0 Security Cryptocontroller for Trusted Platform Modules

    • NXP CBTL06GP213 Six-Channel Multiplexer

    • Realtek RTS5304

    • Atmel UC256L3U 256KB Flash, 32-bit AVR Microcontroller

    • ITE IT8528VG

  18. 1Q2MO4GdlesrsSCT

    • We found some more chips on the dark side of the meme mobo:

    • The second pair of Samsung K4E8E304ED-EGCE LPDDR3 RAM chips

    • Realtek ALC3264 Audio Codec

    • Winbond 25X40CL1G 4M-bit Serial Flash

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    • Yo-ho and blow the fan down! Next we plunder the fan/heat sink combination.

    • Taking a closer look at our treasure, we see a cooling system more akin to one found in a laptop than a tablet, with a heat sink that draws into the fan.

    • If you're keeping count, this is exactly one-half the fannage we found in Pros 1 and 2. Both the mobo and cooling system exhibit dramatic redesigns.

  20. VY4ljbvVB6fBokdK

    • Beneath the heatsink we find...BRAAAAINS! Or in this case the CPU.

    • Microsoft equipped this iteration with a 4th generation Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processor depending on the model.

    • Our model features a dual-core, 1.9 GHz Core i5-4300U with Intel HD Graphics 4400.

    • Tech zombies that we are, we'll have to be content to leave this CPU in place, as it is not coming off the board.

    • Millions of upgrade junkies suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.

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    • The everything cable—home to the headphone jack, volume and power buttons, and vibrator.

    • While the myriad of reviews focused on the identity crisis of this laplet and whether or not it could replace your tablet and laptop, Gabe over at Penny Arcade found some of the issues with the hardware. It would seem that if you are drawing with the included Premium pen, you bump into problems with the home button, literally. Perhaps there's a software fix in the offing?

    vibrator? This is something new to laptops.

    Xavier Jiang -

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    • We're charging (port) through the remains of the back case. We quickly free the microSD and charging port for closer inspection.

    • We're happy to see that Microsoft still provides a microSD slot. While it is not exactly all we hope and dream for in terms of expandable storage, it is a welcome inclusion.

  24. FaIynShNRxeiwDGW
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    • Next, we come upon a baby rear-facing camera in its natural habitat. This small creature watches its prey, waiting to strike at any moment.

    • Both cameras on this Surface safari are 5.0 MP, a lackluster spec in the current world of mobile device photography. However, we are just fine with that, as we aren't fond of tablet selfies.

    • As the sun sets on another teardown, we're left alone with our thoughts... and the rear case.

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    • Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Repairability Score: 1 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

    • The SSD can be replaced, but not without first risking damage to the tablet simply by opening it.

    • The battery is not soldered to the motherboard, but very strong adhesive makes removal and replacement a hazardous chore.

    • Non-standard connectors make for tricky display removal.

    • The display assembly consists of a fused glass panel and LCD, and is extremely difficult to remove and replace.

    • Tons of adhesive hold everything in place, including the display and battery.

    • The delicate and arduous opening procedure leaves no room for mistakes: one slip-up, and you'll be out a screen.

    Why has nobody mentioned the WiFi antennas? I cut through mine while removing the screen. They're so delicate and stuck in the glue that holds the screen down. A great bit of engineering by Microsoft

    Carl Hudson -

Tinte & Feder

Andrew Optimus Goldheart

Mitglied seit: 17/10/09

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59 Kommentare

A easier way to a cracked screen is what we get for complaining about a mountain of torx screws. Thanks N-trig for that thinner glass. Maybe a "Surface-sized" iOpener bag is needed that covers the entire periphery of the screen. Something with a long flat sharp edge (like a plastic ruler) might speed up things.

Paul Bigelow -

You guys did not inspect the kickstand mechanism?

Fillduck -

There is no NFC function in surface pro 3...... You may miss this in"step 15"

36northdegree -

Yeah, I was hopping for a bit more on the kick stand friction hinges... and if I can somehow mod them into a SP2

Vitus Wight -

Any comments on the grade of thermal paste in use?

!@#$%^ padding? Decent AS5? Puurrrfect PK-3?

Interested in knowing if thermal paste replacement could boost the life and cooling of this unit (after its warranty expires of course)!

Kerry Coleman -

Did you guys find any special thing about the charging port?

Can it be used as a Thunderbolt?

linhongye -

It looks like the charging port also is the dock port for when the dock comes out. My guess is it passes USB, Eth, Video Etc over that pins that visible in the port connector but not on the charging cable.

praxum -

So i take it, if u DO decide to open it, and change the SSD, u should buy a new screen just because u wont save the original one anyways.

padslagt -

I wonder how warranty repair is done on this device. For example if the camera has a smudge, the screen has bleeding or whatever.

My guess is they throw the entire device out and give you a new one, there is no way a repair center can open this thing (without damaging it).

Is it a coincidence that companies with terrible repair scores (Microsoft and Apple) are the same companies with a record of trying to void your warranty for bogus reasons?

kurkosdr -

It is possible that they have a fixture to heat the whole display ring to make the adhesive come loose all at once for a service facility.

praxum -

this is exactly what happens.

zacisawesome12330 -

I would 'assume' from this teardown that dropping a Surface 3 will almost ensure a cracked screen.

RetiredTechie -

You are wrong... /watch?v=bxNuxr6mlKE

DMuela -

Correct. Mine cracked with a small drop

Graeme Taylor -

Correct, mine cracked with a relatively small drop the corner. Touch screen stopped working too.

Graeme Taylor -

Have you thought about opening the surface by destroying the inexpensive parts of the casing?

I guess you could cut it open at the edges...

than you would only need some solution to close it afterwards

David Xanatos -

It looks like there is room for an unspecified peripheral....maybe 4G/LTE?

georgedstarr -

I think you need a new tool which provides heat and suction over a largish area, so you can lift the display and the batteries, keeping them flat all the time.

harry -

Could you please add a photo where the LCD panel label marking is visible or simply add the model in the description?

I'm super interested in identifying the panel! Thanks a lot.

Marius Popescu -

Anyone got any idea where to obtain a replacement screen, or who will do a screen replacement other than Microsoft themselves? I've cracked mine, and all MS are offering is an entirely new device, which I don't want to do.

James -

Thank you, thank you, thank you... I had a potential customer but said "Sorry" after I saw this. What happened to designing for serviceability? You all are great!!

shoes69 -

Would it be possible to cut a hole (using a template) in the back cover to take out the battery? A new battery kit could then contain a replacement cover with a locking mechanism making future replacements easier.

Thomas Forsberg -

I am surprised to see such poor design relying on adhesives... Who is the OEM of SP3? Seems likely a poor engineering design..LG Li-ion battery is reliable, but never thought its combination with adhesive tapes due to thermal management issue...will pass SP3 hoping to see better build for SP4.

Jack -

youdon'tfixit, that's how you should call this incompetents

diocan -

Hi!

Could you please tell me if the Glass with SCREEN are glued together without airspace between?

Is it easy to replace just the glass ?

Nikolas Poulios -

Does Surface Pro 3 have the UHS-II physical interface with two rows of contacts? I looked the teardown of the older surface pro, and it did NOT have it. Can we get a photo of the inside of the SD card reader for the Surfqce Pro 3, please?

reikred -

Does Surface Pro 3 have the UHS-II physical interface with two rows of contacts? I looked at the teardown of the older surface pro, and it did NOT have it (see comment section). It would be easy to determine if there was a photo of the inside of the SD card reader for the Surface Pro 3, too.

reikred -

this whole website is completely biased and it is unbelievable. I hope that you guys can strive to make better reviews in the future that aren't half as biased

-caleb

Caleb Albertson -

Any chance you could heat the adhesive to determine what temperature is needed for it to release? It sounds severe but heating the entire unit to that temperature may be tolerable to it while making removal of the display and battery much easier. A service center could have a straightforward "opener" with such temperature controlled plates and suction to make it quick and easy...

jimhorn -

We've just had to remove two screens. One was in good shape, but the SSD had failed so we needed it out to recover the data. After heating the screen for a loooong time, the thing still cracked almost instantly, it's almost as if there's a stress point on the bottom of the speaker opening (which is also the easiest place to pry). The other one had been dropped, the corner had complete fractured and the chassis bent, so it's trash, we just wanted to use it to see if the SSD failure was motherboard or the actual SSD. Microsoft agreed to replace the failed unit (not without a fight though!). Very bad design for an enterprise product.

petewhite -

My son's Surface 3 screen cracked and I sent to Microsoft repair centre for warranty. The unit was returned back to me back telling us that not a warranty case. I contacted Microsoft support asking if they could repair it, they told me to send it back again after accepting (purchasing) and out-of-warranty replacement unit. The service agent was very helpful and gave me all the support I could ask for, but I asked him why didn't the support team at MS offer me some options before shipping the broken back to me? I didn't get any answer except that he will escalate it to the right person(s). Now we had to send the broken unit back to the same repair centre (I live in Finland and the MS repair centre is in Germany). My son is using it for his schoolwork; this extra back-and-forth shipment will take extra two weeks. I had to pay €366 for a replacement unit, which is almost 50% of the retail price. What options did I have? None. The unit cannot be repaired!

trondneergaard -

Thanks for this review. I am not going to buy the pro3 now. What would be a similar alternative that is easier to repair?

ajpearceukfiltered3 -

Where can I find the FCC ID for the Surface Pro 3 ?

Brad Adams -

Hi

In step 16, dose anyone know if you can repleace the Marvell 88W8897 WLAN + BT4.0 + NFC Combo Chip can be repleaced or repaired?

s-papercut Service Account -

Hi

In step 16, dose anyone know if you can repleace the Marvell 88W8897 WLAN + BT4.0 + NFC Combo Chip can be repleaced or repaired? Thanks

gewerlys -

Is it possible to replace an M3 (4g ram) motherboard with an i5 (8g ram) on the Surface Pro 3? Much cheaper to buy a motherboard and replace than buy the whole assembly.

Matthew Swartz -

Ive fixed tons of these guys, now im stumped on one. Had a customer come in for a screen replacement, but his frame was also so badly bent there was no way a new panel would ever seat correctly, and his volume buttons were completely jammed due to the bend. Found a replacement housing for around 30ish with most the smallish parts still intact i replaced them with the orginal parts by now tho, I got the battery out perfectly clean with a islack, patience and lots of heat and alcohol battery tested on multi at nominal voltage but i cannot get the motherboard to power up! putting my ear right up to the copper heat sink paper i can hear a faint ticking noise from the board, holding power/volume i even hear the ticking noise pause a moment before continuing. Removing the motherboard went very smooth nothing was forced. device was booting at check in. any thoughts guys?

Joshua Sites -

all the lil cable thing things that go between the board and the connectors have been examined and look perfect too, even tried swapping the one with the battery and the dock cable since they are the same part. might need a mobo replacement but just cant understand what went wrong, ive replaced many of these screens, battery was discconnected as soon as the screen was up and was set to the side until the new housing arrived.

Joshua Sites -

Hi Joshua,

I hope you found a solution to your motherboard issue. You sound like your familiar with the surface pro 3, i was wondering of there was a module that i can add to a surface pro 3 for Sim card use? I’ve picked up a few SP3’s with cracked screens and thought whilst i have them open its worth looking at seeing if i can add a sim card adapter? thanks in advance

Sam Rhouila -

Hi! Sorry about my English, I’m a foreigner, where I can find a scheme of SF 3 1631 fuse location.

Thanks a lot, you´re great.

mga -

Hello there! I really appreciate the step-by-step and think is most useful. I have the original Surface Pro and Surface Pro 3. Both had the same problem of the screen crapping out. I know this as both works and I’ve tested and troubleshooted. Both connects to a monitor and both works but the screens itself had crapped out. I looked around for screen replacements but they cost $300+ for a replacement screen and have to make sure I am careful on replacing them as they are both very fragile. Both of them crapped out just a month after the warranty expired and with the same issue.

I guess my question is, “Is Microsoft doing anything to correct this that would not cost me an arm and a leg to either replace the screen or get it fixed?” “What is Microsoft doing to correct this issue?” “Maybe a class action suit?”

mar9el -

HELP!!!! Between where the battery connects to the board, there is a piece that fell out. Which way does it go back in????!!!! HELP!!! Also there is a piece between the screen cable and where it connects to the board!! I need to get this together asap. I have someone coming to get it soon…thanks!!

Tech-ER -

i have the exact same question, the in between piece between the connector and the motherboard.

Miguel C -

Does anyone know what kind of memory configuration the 8GB/16GB Models use? I was unable to find higher density memory from samsung with the same Package

Leo Villiger -

I love the commentary. 10/10 keep it up lol

Mando Juarez -

Hey folks! I recently dropped my sourface pro 3. What a shame! There are no visible damages but the display remains dark. I’m able to connect to an external display and it works as if nothing has happend to the device. I manged to remove the display and could not identify any visible damages either. I bought as spare display an connected to the rest of my surface. Still display remains dark. There is a tiny plate placed between the ribbon display cable and the main board. The plate has some golden dots and acts a connector between the ribbon display cable and the main board. I assume the plate got damaged by the impact on the floor. Any idea how to fix the plate or any idea where to find a spare one?

Thanks

Paul

Paul Wulf -

Has anyone had issues with the charger socket my SP3 pro has stopped charging i have tried a replacement charger but to no avail, i have a replacement charger socket and am going to open it up, i am prepared that i might have to buy a new screen, i’m just lookin for any advise before i start

michael Amos -

Hey Michael,

We have done that repair a couple of times and as long as you have another charging socket and a new screen it should be able to be done. It’s nearly impossible to open these up without cracking the glass, it’s super thin and help with really strong adhesive. Near the top of the frame where all the plastic is, there are antennas, make sure you don’t rip them or apple too much hear to the top as you can melt the plastic. Best of luck!

Abdullah -

I would have given it a higher repairability score of 3 or maybe even 4 instead of one due to the fact that you can actually access the battery pack and SSD after removing the screen, unlike the original Surface Pro that required you to remove the whole motherboard (with n+1 tiny torx screws) in order to get to the battery.

 

Also would like to point out that I was able to fix the notorius bulging battery issue by poking tiny holes to the battery pack plastic wrapping to let the accumaleted air/gasses out. Just had to be super careful not to damage the battery elements under the wrapper. I know it is not advisable to do so, but it still works like a charm, and it gave my Surface Pro 3 a new life :)

martin -

Great video and breakdown. However, I also ran into the arduous attempt to fix my Surface Pro 3 and, needless to say, broke the screen. But I also found that I caused damage to certain parts around the video cameras. I’ve searched for hours for the slim board that holds the cameras in place at the top of the unit internally but couldn’t find a description or a replacement. I’ve caused enough damage that requires a replacement of the slim board pictured above. Is there a technical name for this part. I’m having a you know what of a time finding the part. Thanks.

FrankSr1st -

Hey How do you remove the keyboard connector cable?

David Khen -

My keyboard cover doesnt recognize and I had tried everything, update, reset, install and everything and I am just wondering is it cause by the keyboard connector cable? Please show me how to fix it?

David Khen -

Where can I send feedback for the removal of the screen… theres a much simpler way to remove it… and if you have experience removing imac screens you should know the answer…. its called the pizza cutter… the imac screen removal tool from the kit… along with the black stick solder guide tool and some kind of heat gun. in my case I used a butane soldering wand with the heat blower tool. Behind the kick stand looking at the hinges theres a pin hole which you can apply some pressure with the black stick while applying heat around that area on top then you slide in the pizza cutter and start rolling while applying heat. turns out that center part is where theres the least ammount of adhesive to start your prying process.

John Rosario -

I wish you would have included replacing the front facing camera. How to remove it from the antenna housing.

Carl Jeffers -

I had an arduino uno connected to the surface pro 3 and accidentally had a short circuit in the aruino with a lipo 12V battery. The PC immediately turn off and it wont start again. Is this problem fixable?

Diego Mestre Cam -

Hi

i was changing my surface pro 3 cracked screen I damaged one of the components shown in step 18 near the The second pair of Samsung K4E8E304ED-EGCE LPDDR3 RAM chips.

I don’t know the name of the component.

because of that my surface pro 3 is not charging/ switch on. Pls help

thanks

Sri

Srinath Subbarao -

I can't find a company to try and repair it.

Trish Rudisill -

Hey Guys,

Thanks to this guide and the Power button teleflex Cable replacement i got my Cheap bought surface pro 3 Back up and running Perfectly Fine. I have also Changed the Thermal past Running Coller now. Thanks to you tools and Helpful Guide I feel proud of having repaired something without Damaging it ( Except the Screen of course, but got a pare since i had ghost touch and Part of the touch not Working.)

iTAZUETA -

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William Simon -