[I'm a Surface Fanatic. I *love* all the Surface devices, accessories, and the rich ecosystem built around this brand. I also love tearing devices apart. So in the spirit of my last teardown series lets do a teardown of the new brick-shaped Surface Dock.]
Tools
- pliers
- T6 torx screwdriver
- 1/8" slot screwdriver
Disclaimer
Opening your Surface Dock will likely void your warranty. You should take every precaution when tearing apart any consumer electronic device. Even though the Surface Dock operates at 15V, you should be careful to keep metal bits and tools away to not short out anything. If you are not familiar with the safety aspects of working with electronic projects, do not attempt this teardown. Ifixit has a good safety guide for electronic teardowns and repairs.
Part 1 - pull the plug
This is probably the toughest part of the teardown. Surface marketing material notes that the Surface Dock includes a "SurfaceConnect" cable. At first glance it looks like the cable is removable, but tug on it lightly and it doesn't budge. This is because it is glued in. You need to tug on it really hard to free it. I recommend gripping the strain relief with pliers thicker than what I'm using and prying against the case to get a little leverage. Be careful. Its possible to destroy the end of the cable if you crimp the wires or pull the insulation off.
Here is the proprietary connector on the dock side of the SurfaceConnect cable. Note the kapton tape around the housing which snugs the connector into the dock. The glob of glue chipped off, but you can see the residue partially covering the printed text "IAJRADG" on the housing.
Part 2 - remove bottom cover
Now that the cable is free, its time to open up the mystery brick. Just like the last generation clamp dock, you need to pull off the bottom cover. This time instead of a plastic sheet with sticky residue, its a rubber sheet with sticky residue. Pull the sheet off to reveal the adhesive:
Poke 4 holes in the corners to reveal four T6 torx screws. Loosen the screws - they should stay put with all the adhesive around the holes:
Gently shake the dock and lift off the bottom cover. You may need to use the flathead screwdriver to pry it free. Flip it over to reveal one of the weights:
Part 3 - remove the circuit board
Use the T6 torx screwdriver to remove the 4 screws holding in the circuit board and the 2 screws holding the SurfaceConnect receptacle shell:
The circuit board is now held in with a little friction at the USB ports but is mostly being held in place at the audio port which protrudes through the chassis. Gently pry the board opposite the audio port to tilt it and pull it out. It may help to bend the long edges of the plastic chassis slightly to give a little extra clearance for the audio port. If it doesn't come out easily, don't force it - you can bend the board and ruin it.
You'll notice the shell around the main SurfaceConnect receptacle has a magnet on it with a red dot and the whole assembly falls right off:
Here is a close-up of the connector shell:
More weight on the other side:
Part 4 - Examining the circuit board
You can gently pry off the integrated circuit shields with a 1/8" slot screwdriver to reveal the interesting chips.
Under the top shield:
- STDP4320 - STMicro DisplayPort 1.2a splitter
- SC667353 - Freescale Semiconductor microcontroller
- CX20582 Conexant HD Audio?
- PI3PCIE3442ZHE - Pericom PCIE 3.3V PCI Express 3.0 2-lane switch
Under the bottom shields:
The circuit board part number is "PCB X898350-001". It is very densely populated compared to the older docking station. The board appears to be 6 or 8 layer and has a gazillion 8-pin ICs everywhere. I suspect these are VRMs and power switches. I didn't take the time to look to closely at them. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer.
Thanks to my colleague Jon for providing the Dock and doing most of the initial teardown.
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