MakeUseOf’s Gavin Phillips argues that permanently attached storage can be a more consequential laptop compromise than non-upgradeable memory. The concern is sound: fixed storage restricts internal upgrades and can complicate recovery after a motherboard failure. But the strongest buying advice needs two qualifications. A dead motherboard does not automatically mean lost files, and an SSD’s endurance rating is not an expiration date.
For Windows laptop buyers, the useful question is less dramatic than “Which component kills the computer?” It is this: When storage becomes insufficient or something breaks, what options remain?
Capacity, repairability and recovery are different problems
The debate becomes clearer when three issues are separated:
- Capacity: Can you install a larger internal drive?
- Repairability: Can failed storage be replaced without replacing the motherboard?
- Recovery: Can you retrieve files when the laptop no longer works?
Phillips’s central argument is that soldered storage can make all three harder. With flash storage attached directly to the motherboard, there is no ordinary drive module to remove and replace. Board-level work may still be possible, but that is a different proposition from following a documented SSD replacement procedure.
That distinction matters even to owners who never intended to upgrade anything. Repairability is not exclusively an enthusiast feature. Sometimes it is simply the difference between replacing one component and confronting a much bigger decision.
However, fixed primary storage does not necessarily mean a laptop has no expansion options whatsoever. Before treating the purchase configuration as an absolute ceiling, check the exact model’s documentation for additional storage slots or other supported expansion arrangements.
Running out of space is not wearing out the SSD
The original argument blends a practical concern—insufficient capacity—with a separate technical issue: flash endurance.
A drive can become inconveniently full while remaining healthy. Equally, an endurance specification cannot tell you precisely when a particular drive will fail.
Samsung’s warranty documentation provides a useful example. Its 990 PRO coverage specifies:
| Capacity | Warranty duration or write threshold |
|---|---|
| 1TB | Five years or 600TB written |
| 2TB | Five years or 1,200TB written |
| 4TB | Five years or 2,400TB written |
Samsung states that coverage ends when either the time limit or the terabytes-written threshold is reached first. These are terms for that particular retail SSD family—not specifications for every laptop’s soldered flash.
The important distinction is that a warranty threshold is not a prediction of the exact moment of failure. Nor does a removable drive become immune to failure simply because it has a connector.
The stronger case against soldered storage is therefore not “the flash will definitely die before the RAM.” It is the loss of straightforward replacement if the storage fails or becomes too small. That argument does not need a countdown clock.
A removable SSD helps—but encryption still matters
Phillips highlights a genuine advantage of separate storage: a motherboard fault need not require recovering data through the original board. If the drive remains functional, removing it creates another possible route to the files.
But “remove the drive and copy everything” is incomplete advice for an encrypted Windows PC.
Microsoft explains that BitLocker can require its 48-digit recovery key when it cannot automatically unlock a drive, including after a hardware change. Microsoft Support cannot retrieve or recreate a lost key. A physically intact, removable SSD is therefore not, by itself, a guarantee of accessible data.
For owners, the practical lesson is straightforward:
- Establish whether the computer uses BitLocker or Device Encryption.
- Confirm that its recovery key is backed up somewhere accessible independently of the laptop.
- If recovery is required, match the displayed recovery-key ID to the appropriate saved key.
- For an organization-managed device, involve IT rather than assuming a personal Microsoft account holds the answer.
Microsoft’s recovery guidance identifies Microsoft accounts, work or school accounts, printouts and saved USB copies as possible key locations. The relevant location depends on how the device was configured.
With soldered storage, recovery additionally depends on the fault and device design. Repairing the board may restore access; damaged storage or unavailable encryption credentials may prevent it. There is no defensible universal promise of recovery—and no universal price tag.
Compact storage has a real engineering benefit
It would also be unfair to dismiss soldered storage as having no purpose beyond frustrating repair shops.
Samsung’s 2016 PM971-NVMe announcement described an SSD integrating NAND flash, DRAM and a controller into a single BGA package measuring 20 × 16 × 1.5mm. That is a concrete example of the packaging flexibility such designs offer. It is historical evidence of a design benefit, not a specification for today’s laptops.
Still, compactness is not the same thing as necessity. Microsoft’s specifications for the Snapdragon-based Surface Laptop for Business, 7th Edition, explicitly list removable Gen 4 SSD storage. Its service documentation separately describes SSD removal and installation. That establishes that removable storage is a deliberate, documented design option—not merely a relic from thicker notebooks.
Neither example proves that one design is universally faster or more reliable. They demonstrate the actual trade-off: packaging flexibility on one side, modular servicing on the other.
What to check before buying a Windows laptop
A specification sheet should answer more than “How many gigabytes?”
Use this checklist before committing:
- Find the exact model’s service manual. Look for a separate SSD removal or replacement procedure.
- Confirm what is removable. “SSD” alone does not establish that storage comes on a replaceable module.
- Check expansion separately. Establish whether another supported storage slot exists.
- Read the prerequisites. Removable does not mean tool-free or suitable for every owner; follow the manufacturer’s safety and servicing requirements.
- Budget for your actual working set. Consider applications, offline files and future projects—not just the files currently sitting in Documents.
- Keep recovery credentials accessible. A key stored only on an inaccessible computer is not much of a recovery plan.
Microsoft’s Surface documentation illustrates why the manual matters: the SSD is a separately identified service component, with model-specific handling instructions. Buyers should seek similarly explicit evidence rather than infer upgradeability from appearance or marketing language.
Backups matter more than the connector
A removable SSD is a repair advantage, not a backup strategy.
Microsoft documents File History as one Windows option for keeping file copies on an external drive or network location. Its broader recovery guidance also distinguishes personal-data backups from a recovery drive: recovery media should not be mistaken for a copy of your personal files.
Whatever method you choose, verify that it includes the folders you care about and that you can restore a sample file. The comforting presence of a backup icon is not the same as a successful recovery.
The verdict is not that soldered storage inevitably ends a laptop’s life. It is that soldered storage removes useful escape routes. A capacity shortage becomes harder to solve internally, storage replacement becomes more involved, and some motherboard failures become more difficult recovery cases.
Soldered RAM still deserves scrutiny. But the component carrying your work and memories deserves an equally prominent place on the pre-purchase checklist. Thinness is visible in the showroom; repairability usually introduces itself later.