Surface devices, as great as they are, have always been infamous for being unnecessarily hard to repair. Thankfully, if you were looking to buy a Surface Pro 9, you’ll be glad to know repairs are slightly easier compared to Microsoft’s previous tablets.

iFixit has published a teardown of the Surface Pro 9, and the company was happy to report that the new model is much more repairable that other Surface devices in the past. The older Surface Pro 7 notably got a 1 out of 10 score from the site, the lowest possible score that can be awarded by iFixit. The new model, however, got a much better 7 out of 10, indicating a massive leap in repairability, even if some things can probably be done better.

Tearing down the device is much simpler than in previous years. For an SSD upgrade, you can just lift away a tiny magnetic flap from the body of the device. For any other upgrade/repair, you’ll need to actually disassemble it, which is much easier this time — the edges of the display are much more friendlier to prying, to prevent breakage while you’re disassembling it.

Once you’re in, the internal layout is also vastly improved. While the RAM is soldered, everything is modular, even the battery — which is not glued in anymore, but it’s now held by screws. Microsoft has also promised that official parts and manuals will be available, and we should expect those to come out in 2023.

Overall, it seems like a strong improvement compared to previous models. That’s an important factor as self-repairing becomes more popular — the easier a device is to repair, the longer it can last, saving you more money in the long run.

Source: iFixit