Repair | Surface Laptop SE

Surface Laptop SE has replaceable components, including the keyboard, display, and battery. Watch Branden demonstrate how to take the device apart with minimal tools.

Microsoft recommends that you seek professional assistance for device repairs and that you use caution if undertaking "do it yourself" repairs.

Video Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:24 Removing Back
01:04 Unsnap Keyboard
01:35 Trackpad & Keyset FPC
02:10 Disconnect Battery
2:23 All Other Connectors
03:02 Display Module
03:37 Remove Battery
04:10 Wi-Fi Module
04:28 Disconnect Speaker
04:40 Motherboard
05:10 Remove Speakers
05:42 Internal Power Connection
05:52 Review

[Nickson]

Dear Microsoft, if possible, please extend this to your other Surface-Devices. That would be a Game Changer and your Devices and your brand would get the recognition it deserves! Keep the good work going!

[mfitrimshukri]

This is basic laptop targetted for the education market. Microsoft plans to sell them in bulks to schools. This video will assist school technicians to repair the laptop on-site whenever needed. My country used to buy Samsung Chromebooks in bulks about 10 years ago. They are quite hard to self-repair. I think this Surface SE should be the right laptop for schools in my country (a developing middle income nation in Southeast Asia).

[fictionhead]

Nice to see this step in a repairable direction - hopefully replacement parts will be easy to access too, then it'll truly be easy to do DIY repair.
Good job!

[平和-vz]

This is awesome!
And now to the important part: *Please release high-end devices which are as repair/upgrade friendly.*

Thank you, Microsoft!

[LargeMcBottoms]

WOOO LET'S GOO MICROSOFT! Way to gooo! L'ets keep this momentum going, and keep on helping guide people on repairing and maintaining their own products!

[jeffriart]

This is a great move in the right direction. Make one for Surface Laptop Studio please... :)

[gregoryclarke]

Had to really check if this is a Microsoft channel as most other manufacturers do not show how to dis and reassemble their products. Nice

[castortoutnu]

That's a great step in a great direction Microsoft! Thanks!
Next steps would be to make replacement parts available for awhile at a decent price, release board schematics and such <3

[antoinev]

I am an industry outsider of about 8 years. Just so you know, this is a disassembly video, not a repair video. We see nothing being repaired - pulling it apart is only half the story.

Four most common repairs I see for education-market laptops are the LCD, charging port, keyboard and the "hinge". But by hinge I mean the bottom chassis, or "bucket" in this instance.

- The video doesn't show the process of replacing the LCD independent of the lid, but it's most likely an off the shelf panel so should be trivial to replace even without instructions. 11.6" WXGA laptop LCDs are very common, it's just a matter of whether it has screw flanges or not. Chances are you can even upgrade it to IPS!
- The DC jack is a modular and not soldered, excellent! A lot of Chromebooks these days have USB-C only for charging, and the port is usually soldered which sucks for repair.
- Ideally the keyboard should not be fused to the top case, so it can be replaced on its own.
- When a laptop "hinge" breaks, it's never the hinge itself that breaks. It's the mounting point for the screws in the bucket, or the bucket itself. Would've been nice to see a large steel anchor or some other kind of reinforcement so that it's far less likely to break in the first place.

[MrSmitheroons]

All the laptops I have ever owned were basically this straightforward to repair. (Other than Apple! Which I never buy, but I have gotten some when family members no-longer wanted them. Even the ~2012 and older Apple laptops were about this repairable if you could only get the replacement parts easily.)

I appreciate how above and beyond Framework has gone now, and I like that companies are publishing teardown guides. But all my Dell laptops/desktops for example have had repair and service manuals. Acer is also openable and user-serviceable.

Having non-replaceable parts is an extremely recent trend in the history of consumer PCs. We should understand that this is a step back, a regression from even the 2000s and 2010s. And demand that companies KEEP computers repairable. Not glue and mold them down into parts that aren't "serviceable" so much as "breakable" if you attempt to open them up and take them apart.

Anyhow, thanks MS for going BACK to repairable designs. Like it always has been. Don't regress that ever again, please. Especially if it's just following Apple down a bad road that led you there. Thank you.

[Mireaze]

The video needs a bit of work, many shots are blocked, and the delivery is very stilted. But congrats on moving in the right direction!

[davep]

Microsoft continues to lead the way in making tech accessible and affordable to all. Thank you

[djsnowpdx]

In five years, the seniors in high school can have a class dedicated to repairs and maintenance of students' laptops! A self-renewing system!

[kamenotost]

I am so glad you take user repairability into consideration. I would have bought a Surface Book 3 if they weren't a nightmare to even open it.

[phenom]

Microsoft, I bought the Surface Pro competitor offered by Lenovo, the ThinkPad X12 Detachable, as that product features six screws behind the fold-out back cover used to access the internal components of the device. No adhesive/glue was used to prevent opening of the device and user-servicing of it. That device also has user-acquirable parts to use proper replacements. Please introduce this to all of your product lines in the future and I would consider a Microsoft product more seriously.

[thetechbin]

Apple would NEVER dare to do this. Even with their "pro" products. Microsoft is still the best!

[swc]

No replaceable SSD? Guys! I appreciate the keyboard coming off first (though the keyboard being seperate from the trackpad would be preferred) but talk about one step forward two billion steps back there... I was really interested in this one too...

[daviidon]

Nice, pro laptops with this repairability is a definite purchase

[Brisou]

Nice !! I haven't heard of it on news.. LTT but that is just as the Steam Deck. Good initiative !!

[josephking]

Looking forward to the Surface Pro 4 repair video. 🙄
Is there anyone posting here who is *not* an _enthusiastic_ microsoft employee?