Microsoft

Cracking Open the Microsoft Surface 2

By // November 22, 2013, 12:47 PM PST // billdetwiler

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  • Microsoft Surface 2 teardown

    On the outside, the Surface 2 may look like its predecessor, the Surface RT. But Microsoft dramatically changed the tablet's internal design. And in doing so, made it a real pain to crack open and repair.

    In this Cracking Open gallery, I walk you through the process of disassembling the Surface 2 and give you a tour of the redesigned internal hardware layout. For a detailed analysis of the teardown, check out my article and video, Surface 2 design changes make it more difficult to crack open and repair.

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Box Contents

    Along with the Surface 2 itself, the box also includes the charger and documentation.

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Dimensions and weight

    At 10.81 inches wide, 6.79 inches tall, 0.35 inches thick, and weighing 1.49 pounds, the Surface 2 is nearly identical to the Surface RT. It does however, have several hardware upgrades.

    The Surface 2 has two microphones (compared to the Surface RT's one), stereo speakers, a USB 3.0 port, better front-facing (3.5-megapixel) and rear-facing (5.0-megapixel) cameras, a new 1920x1080 display, and a faster 1.7GHz Tegra 4 processor.

    The Surface 2 is available with 32GB ($449) or 64GB ($549) of storage.

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: 10.6 inch HD display (1920 x 1080)

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Back

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Kickstand open front

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Kickstand position one

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Kickstand position two

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Speaker, headphone jack, volume buttons, keyboard cover connector

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Speaker, video port, USB 3.0 port, and charging port

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Front-facing camera and senors

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Rear-facing camera and sensors

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Kickstand hinge

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the kickstand hinge screws

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the kickstand

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Prying off the typing cover magnet cover strip

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the typing cover magnet cover strip

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Heating the front panel edges

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Lifting off the front panel

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the display connector PCB screws

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Disconnecting the touchscreen and display assembly

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Front panel and display assembly

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Internal hardware

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the front panel bezel screws

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the front panel bezel

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Internal hardware with front panel bezel remove

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the rear-facing camera and sensor cover trim piece

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Rear trim warped due to heating the front panel

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the lower front panel mounting brackets

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the upper front panel mounting bracket

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the speakers

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Speakers - Front

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Speakers - Back

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the motherboard connector shields

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Detaching the front panel/display cable

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Detaching the charging port/microSD card reader cable

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the rear-facing camera

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the front-facing camera

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the volume button contact screws

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the volume button contacts

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the motherboard screws

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the motherboard

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Removing the charging connector and microSD card reader assembly

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Charging connector and microSD card reader assembly - Top

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Charging connector and microSD card reader assembly - Bottom

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Body with battery

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: 7.6V 31.3WH Li-ion battery

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Kickstand hinge attached to body

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Speaker panel still glued to the body

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Vibration motor

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Typing cover magnets

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Typing cover connector

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: 5.0-megapixel rear-facing camera

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: 3.5-megapixel front-facing camera

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Motherboard - Front

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Motherboard - Back

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: 1.7GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4 SoC

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: SK Hynix H26M64003DQR 32GB NAND Flash

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Atmel AT32UC3L0256 32-bit AVR UC3 RISC microcontroller

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: 324 D81 EW

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Micron Technology 2GB DDR3 SDRAM (3NE77 D9GLJ QLV5)

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Texas Instruments TPS65913 processor power management unit (PMU)

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Texas Instruments TPS IC

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Marvell Avastar 88W8797 Integrated 2x2 WLAN/Bluetooth/FM Single-Chip SoC

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Multiple RF Micro Devices ICs

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Wolfson Micro WM8962BE Audio Codec

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Main Wi-Fi antenna

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Wi-Fi MIMO antenna

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Motherboard markings

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Second microphone

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Front-facing camera indicator light, sensors, etc.

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Atmel maXTouch mXT1664S capacitive touchscreen controller

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Texas Instruments MSP430 ultra-low-power microcontroller

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: ZUF 37K CDYF

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  • Cracking Open Surface 2: Completely disassembled

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Microsoft Surface 2 teardown

On the outside, the Surface 2 may look like its predecessor, the Surface RT. But Microsoft dramatically changed the tablet's internal design. And in doing so, made it a real pain to crack open and repair.

In this Cracking Open gallery, I walk you through the process of disassembling the Surface 2 and give you a tour of the redesigned internal hardware layout. For a detailed analysis of the teardown, check out my article and video, Surface 2 design changes make it more difficult to crack open and repair.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

Related Topics:

Microsoft Enterprise Software Software Collaboration Mobility Cloud Hardware

By Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...