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Cracking Open the Microsoft Surface Pro 3

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    Microsoft Surface Pro 3 teardown

    The Surface Pro 3 is thinner and lighter than last year’s model. And it has a beautiful 12-inch display, new kickstand, and handy digital pen. It also has a completely redesigned interior. Unfortunately, the Pro 3 is still just as difficult to disassemble if not more so.

    In this Cracking Open gallery, I walk you through the process of disassembling the Surface Pro 3 and give you a tour of the internal hardware. For a detailed analysis of the teardown, check out my article and video, Surface Pro 3 teardown reveals fragile glass, redesigned interior.

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Box contents

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Front

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Kickstand

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Kickstand in canvas mode

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Back

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Right side ports

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Volume buttons

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Power button

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Rear camera and sensors

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Surface Pro and Surface 2

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Type Cover attached

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Type Cover and kickstand

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Type Cover

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Heating the edges of the front panel

    Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Prying loose the front panel

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Front panel loosened

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Broken glass from the front panel

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Front panel glass if very fragile

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the front panel

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Disconnecting the battery and front panel connectors

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Damaged front panel glass

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Front panel/display assembly

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Ntrig NS-P4196 DuoSense Controller Chipset

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Internal hardware

    Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the SSD

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: SK hynix HFS128G3AMNB-2200A AD SSD (128GB)

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: SK hynix SSD - Front

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: SK hynix SSD - Back

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the upper camera, sensor, and antenna bar

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Camera, sensor, and antenna bar - Front

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Camera, sensor, and antenna bar - Back

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Front-facing camera and sensors

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Right antenna

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Left antennas

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Detaching the motherboard connectors

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Connector contact board

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the motherboard screws

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the motherboard

    Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the motherboard shielding from the top of the board

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the cooling assembly screws

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Cooling assembly front

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Cooling assembly - Back

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the metal shielding from the bottom of the motherboard

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Motherboard - Top

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Motherboard - Bottom

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: 1.9 GHz Intel Core i5 i5-4300U processor

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Samsung K4E8E304ED-EGCE 1GB LPDDR3 RAM (4 x 1GB = 4GB total)

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Winbond 25X20CL1G 2Mb Serial Flash

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: QIC1832-B98B P0BH66.00S-7 1412

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Winbond 25Q128FVPQ 128Mb Serial Flash

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Texas Instruments TPS51624 1/2-Phase Step-Down Driverless Controller

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: 97374M TI 441 A71T

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Marvell Avastar 88W8897 wireless chip

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Atmel ATMLH412 16CM B 3Y0346C

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Texas Instruments TPS51367 12-A Integrated FET Converter

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Texas Instruments CSD87351Q5D Synchronous Buck NexFET Power Block

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Atmel ATUC256L3U 32-bit AVR UC3 MCU

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: ITE IT8528VG 1407-FXO SC0X1A

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Infineon SLB 9665 trusted platform module

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: NXP CBTL06GP213six-channel multiplexer for DisplayPort, HDMI and PCI Express

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Realtek RTS5304

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Realtek ALC3264 Audio Codec

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the speaker/power button bracket screws

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the left speaker

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Left speaker

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the right speaker

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: right speaker

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the power connector

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Power connector

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the microSD card reader

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Removing the rear-facing camera

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Rear-facing camera

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Case cover with attached components

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: 42.2 Wh, 7.6V Li-ion battery

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Battery warning message

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Keyboard docking connector

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Power button contact

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Volume button contacts

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Vibration motor

    Bill Detwiler\/TechRepublic
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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Kickstand hinge

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    Cracking Open Surface Pro 3: Completely disassembled

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Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Previously, Bill was an IT manager in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.