Microsoft Surface Pro 4 - screen bulge fixed, battery replaced, SSD upgraded!

Own one of the tablets with the bulging screen, maybe even developing a screen gap? Need to deal with poor battery life (or no life at all)? Want to upgrade SSD on one of these ultraportable laptop/tablets? This and a lot more you can find in this video (use the chapters if you want to jump to a specific section)!

So this time around the subject is Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (1724). The device is not exactly new, but I love these Surface tablets, own several and quite pleased with what they can do. Full blown PC with proper OS in a tablet form factor? Yes please! But like many similar devices, over the time internal battery deteriorates. This means poor battery life, but more importantly, eventual battery swelling that leads to screen bulging, often followed by screen delamination or even cracking.

Unfortunately, these devices are not easy to repair. To get to the battery, we'll need to disassemble pretty much the whole tablet, including detaching the screen, disconnecting a lot of things internally, removing the motherboard and then the battery. Then do everything again in reverse ;) And you can see me do exactly that in this video. This means that you can use it to see how to replace the LCD screen, internal components, battery and yes, internal SSD can be upgraded while we're there.

If you want to do a project like this, I suggest to pay attention to the video as a lot of things can go wrong. I would know ;)

Extended worklog version is on the sibling JMI Works channel:
   • [JMI wLog] Microsoft Surface Pro 4 Re...  

Don't forget to like and subscribe if you found this useful and would like to see more. Let me know in the comments what you agree/disagree with, what you liked, what you didn't like, if you have any questions, if you know of a better way of doing it, or if there is something that I absolutely should not be doing or have done ;) All constructive feedback is welcome! ;)

Disclaimer:
This video is only for entertainment purposes. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of tools, equipment, or from the information in this video is the sole responsibility of the viewer.

00:00 Intro
00:24 Is it a bad battery in your tablet, or is it just happy to see you?
01:03 Real reason why your device developed a bulge
01:58 I have a plan!
02:45 Different methods for screen removal
05:18 Warning: here be dangerous areas when cutting screen adhesive!
06:14 Cut the screen out
11:41 Disconnect the screen
13:21 That's one gassy battery!
13:33 Why full disassembly is a better way
14:15 Remove antenna support bracket
14:51 Remove CPU EM shield
15:15 Remove heatsink assembly
17:10 Detach camera connectors
18:18 Disconnect power and volume buttons
18:36 Disconnect left speaker
19:00 Disconnect headphone connector
19:21 Disconnect SD card reader connector
20:20 Disconnect power/dock internal connector
21:15 Disconnect right speaker connectors
22:07 Unscrew the motherboard
23:17 Remove right speaker assembly
23:58 Remove the motherboard
24:35 Battery removal plan
25:37 Remove that battery!
28:57 Old battery vs new battery, ouch...
29:20 Install new battery
30:28 Reinstall the motherboard
31:25 Reassemble and reattach internal components
34:23 Clean up and reapply thermal paste
36:34 Reattach heatsink assembly
37:18 Reinstall CPU EM shield and antenna support bracket
37:49 Replace SSD
39:21 Reuse and reapply screen adhesive
40:37 Reconnect the screen
41:03 Glue the screen in place
43:29 Success - thanks for watching!