Microsoft dreams of improving its dreadful Surface iFixit score with the magic of magnets

Every year iFixit tears down the Surface Pro the score gets worse, as the relentless drive to make the tablets thinner and thinner means the increasing use of adhesives, making the device very difficult to repair.

A recently published Microsoft patent may, however, reverse that trend, with Microsoft suggesting replacing all those adhesives with much friendlier magnets.

They write:

An electronic device having a magnetically attached electronic component is described herein. An electronic device includes a housing and an electronic component. The electronic component is positioned within the housing and magnetically attached to an inner surface of the housing via a magnetic force between the electronic component and the inner surface of the housing. During manufacture, the electronic component may be magnetically attached to the inner surface of the housing by aligning one or more magnetic attachment points of the electronic component in magnetic proximity with one or more corresponding magnetic attachment points of the inner surface of the housing of the electronic device,

The advanges of the process includes more rapid manufacturing, but we imagine the process would also allow much easier repair and eventual recycling.

See the full patent here.

Via WindowsUnited