Ideally, you'll first want to find a service manual on your laptop manufacturer's support site that describes how to perform basic upgrades. Getting Started (and the Tools You'll Need) (You'll typically be swapping a broken component for an identical working one.) But in almost all cases, they would fall under the category of a repair rather than an upgrade. Replacing those is sometimes possible, depending on the model and availability of parts. This guide doesn't discuss laptop components that are often proprietary or too specific for us to offer general advice about, such as the display, the keyboard, and the touchpad. The secondary storage, if present (typically a 2.5-inch hard drive, and only on larger models).īy contrast, the following parts are almost never upgradable:Įach component above has its own section in this guide, in which we'll explain how to identify whether it's upgradable in your laptop. The primary storage, which may come in the form of an M.2 or mSATA solid-state drive or a 2.5-inch SSD or hard drive. That said, on average, the following components are usually upgradable in a typical business or consumer laptop: The bottom cover off, how it looks inside an older gaming laptop. Or, a different limitation: Some Apple MacBooks use soldered-down instead of removable components. You will definitely run across exceptions, though.Įarly Microsoft Surface Laptop models and their fabric-coated keyboard decks, for example, are largely glued together and near-impossible to open without damage. It won't cover every configuration, but it should get pretty close. This is a general guide for laptops produced from the early 2010s onward-that is, in the last decade. If you don't feel confident you can do an upgrade on your own, seek a qualified repair shop or a computer-savvy friend or relative to do the job. The warranty won't cover damage that might occur from your upgrade efforts. That's not a license, however, to dive in willy-nilly with screwdriver and pliers. The FTC has plainly stated that you can't void a warranty by breaking a seal, and more recently, the agency announced plans to crack down on companies that try to prevent their customers from repairing products. To cut to the chase, engaging in the process of upgrading or replacing parts in your laptop will not void its warranty in and of itself. We'll even discuss items like the Wi-Fi radio and the graphics processor (GPU), and how to handle any warranty issues that might come up if you perform upgrades.įirst off: Let's discuss warranties before diving into upgrades. This guide helps you identify which laptop components you can (and can't) upgrade, and how to replace them. What you can actually do yourself varies from laptop model to laptop model, however. Depending on the model, you might be able to add more system memory (RAM) to make it more responsive, upgrade the storage drive for a capacity and performance boost, or replace the battery to rejuvenate the charge-holding that the machine had when it was new. But upgrading your laptop, within the confines of what it will allow, can be a great way to get more life out of it. Notebooks, of course, aren't nearly as flexible as your typical desktop PC when it comes to hardware swaps. But if you can remove your laptop's bottom panel, chances are good that there's something inside-or maybe several somethings-that you can upgrade. Some notebooks, indeed, do their best to keep you out. How to Set Up Two-Factor AuthenticationĮven if it's silver or blue on the outside, to most folks, a laptop PC looks like an impenetrable black box on the inside-you wouldn't dream of cracking it open.How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.How to Block Robotexts and Spam Messages.
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