When it comes to repairability, Microsoft’s Surface devices don’t have a good name. The company’s Surface Laptop and Surface Laptop 2, for example, were awarded 0 out of 10 for repairability.

And that was also the same case for some of Microsoft’s other devices, including the Surface Pro 6 and its predecessors. That’s changing now though, at least with the new Surface Laptop 3 line.

iFixit took the Surface Laptop 3 (both the 13-inch and the 15-inch models) and tore it down to see if the repairability of Microsoft’s newest laptop is any better. And as Microsoft promised, the Surface Laptop 3 is actually much easier to repair (and upgrade) than before.

iFixit says the opening procedure is much more straightforward, and it’s easy to replace the SSD inside the device. The device has many modular components but the complex construction of all the circuit make it harder to service. It also has a glued-down battery that could be quite difficult to replace.

And that’s still much better than the first two Surface Laptops, with the Surface Laptop 3 getting a 5 out of 10 for repairability.

Tagged with Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop 3