Sadly not - it has remained in "laptop mode".
When you take the bottom off the laptop - there is a cylinder where the hinge and the mecanism in it, but no easy way to get inside.
The only other optoin I had was to put a wire down the back of the screen and pull the hooks so it leaves it permanently unlocked. But I haven't used it as a tablet much so didn't see the point.
I really wish "Vaio" (new company) would release an updated version of this laptop. You can buy them new, but only the same spec as what I have (16gb ram, 2gb gfx, 2K screen etc). I emailed them about a 4K 32GB version but they said they don't have the potential to scale out to a new laptop yet. (aka sales).
Hands down this is the best laptop I have owned however.
If you want to return it to get it fixed, reach out to https://us.vaio.com/ and see if they would fix a couple of these - I would be willing to send mine in for full refurbishment even for a small cost. But I bet you will get the "this product is from pre-2015 so we can't fix it.