There are some compelling reasons to buy the Surface Pro, but reparability isn't one of them according to iFixit. As is customary, the site greeted Microsoft's new Windows 8 hybrid with a scalpel to provide users with a disassembly guide, but you'll have to navigate a disorienting funhouse of engineering if you want to get inside your device.
The breakdown starts simple enough: you remove two screws from the Surface Pro's kickstand. That, however, is about as far as most folks will make it. The next step calls for you to separate the tablet's screen and body, which are adjoined by a "metric duckload" of adhesive that stood up to most of iFixit's methods, including cutting it.
The site eventually pried the system apart with liberal use of a heat gun and a guitar pick, and doing so revealed a thick layer of tar-like glue around the Surface Pro's perimeter. From there, iFixit removed 23 screws that secured the plastic bezel and then another 29 screws fastening two metal plates on either side of the opened machine.
At this point, most of the Surface Pro's internals can be undone or popped loose, but care is obviously still required. The site also notes that even you if get past the display's adhesive, you'll probably shear one of the four cables around the edge of the device if you don't perform removal the process perfectly.
On the bright side, iFixit praised certain aspects of the Surface Pro. Despite the tablet's poor run time, the site said it's packing "the Cadillac of batteries" -- a 5676mAh 7.4V LG Escalade, which also happens to be locked down by a ton of adhesive, but iFixit notes that at least it isn't soldered to anything.
