iFixit has pulled apart a Microsoft Surface Duo, giving us a look at what’s inside the dual-screen device. One of the team’s most notable findings is that the Duo has a “refreshingly simple hinge design” compared to the ones found in foldable devices on the market today. iFixit says it’s like a “miniature 360-degree laptop hinge.”
As part of the teardown process, iFixit got this very cool X-ray shot of the Surface Duo. The innards of the left half look close enough to an iPad or any modern tablet, but iFixit says the right side “looks like nothing we remember seeing before — it’s almost a solid wall of circuit board, with a little window in the middle for the second battery.” There’s that engineering know-how of the Surface team.
Like most other phone makers, Microsoft has used a ton of adhesive to seal the Surface Duo, and iFixit warns there are a number of fragile cables and connectors that could be damaged if you don’t go about things in just the right way. Even then, there are no guarantees.
Replacing the dual-battery system requires a near-complete disassembly of the whole device. As our review says, the Surface Duo’s battery life isn’t a concern out of the box. But after a year of heavy multitasking use, your $1,400 productivity machine might not have the same stamina. Microsoft does offer its “Microsoft Complete” extended warranty for Duo, which might not be a bad idea considering the risk factor of trying to fix it yourself.
iFixit’s teardown reveals that the two OLED screens are manufactured by LG Display. You’ll also get a close look at the “simple” hinge mechanism that’s one of the most impressive aspects of Microsoft’s latest hardware
You can check out iFixit’s full teardown if you need help deciding whether to buy the $1,400 device. As we mentioned in our review, it’s the best dual-screen hardware out there, but it’s still plagued by buggy software. iFixit has also highlighted the issue, revealing that it had to deal with crashes and flickering screens when it tried to load web pages on the device.
