The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is one of the best business laptops you can buy in 2022. It builds on what has already been a popular choice for business users, but ups the ante in several ways, including Intel’s new 28W TDP processors, And faster LPDDR5 RAM, and more. This is still very much a business laptop, and the only thing customers usually want is the ability to upgrade or replace components after the fact. If you want to upgrade the RAM and/or SSD storage on your Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, we have good and bad news for you.
While the storage on the ThinkPad X1 Yoga comes in the form of a typical M.2 2280 SSD, the RAM is soldered to the motherboard. This means that the storage is upgradable, but the RAM is not, and you have to choose the appropriate capacity at checkout. This isn’t much different than most of the best laptops out there, considering that’s a common sacrifice in order to make devices as thin and light as possible. However, it can be a bit frustrating compared to larger business laptops.
How much RAM should you get?
Since you can’t upgrade it later, you’ll want to make sure that the RAM you add to your Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga is enough to serve you well for as long as you plan on using the laptop. Lenovo offers three configurations – 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB. Of those, our general recommendation would be 16GB, but it will depend on your usage.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 is a powerful convertible with 12th generation Intel processors and up to 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM, which is soldered to the motherboard.
We’d argue that 8GB is too small these days. Windows 11 alone requires 4 GB, and working with just 8 GB nowadays can deal a huge blow to multitasking performance. Modern browsers use a lot of RAM, for example, if you have a large number of tabs open, you may notice a slowdown. This also applies to opening many different applications, as well as applications that load large sets of data from memory. It can include databases among other things.
On the other hand, 32GB can be said to be more than most people need. With a 16GB capacity, the vast majority of users should be able to work on documents, browse the web, and do just about anything without much of a problem. Having 32GB is obviously better, but it’s an expensive upgrade, so we only recommend it if you know you really need that much.
How to Upgrade SSD in Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga
For storage, the upgrade requires the steps you might expect. To get inside the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, you’ll need a Philips screwdriver (and a file iFixit repair kit It will include all the tools you need for this and most other laptops), along with some safety measures. First, we recommend wearing wrist strap To make sure you’re on the ground, also avoid working in environments with fabric or fur that can generate static electricity.
Aside from that, you’ll also need the new SSD, and since the ThinkPad X1 Yoga supports PCIe Gen 4, we’d recommend something like the Samsung 980 Pro. It offers some of the fastest speeds you can get and is reliable, so you can’t ask for more.
Samsung 980 Pro SSD PCIe Gen 4 supports speeds up to 7000MB/s and is one of the best SSDs on the market.
It’s worth noting at this point that if you replace the SSD, you won’t have any of the data currently on your computer. Back up your data to an external drive or a cloud service like OneDrive, then follow our guide on how to install Windows 11 to create a USB installation media (this should be different from your backup drive) before making any changes to your PC.
Once you have everything you need, you may want to start by disabling the battery inside the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, as well as making sure the laptop is turned off and unplugged. This helps prevent current through the device and avoids static discharge while working inside the laptop. To disable the battery, follow these steps:
- Open Control Panel, and change the view to either of them small icons or big iconsthen press Power Options.
- In the menu on the left side, click Choose what the power buttons do.
- click Change settings that are not currently available. You will need administrator privileges for this to work.
- Clear the check box for Turn on fast startup (recommended)then press Saving changes.
- Restart your computer and quickly press F1 when you see the Lenovo logo to access the UEFI BIOS settings.
- Go to configuration swear and choose EnergyThen Disable the built-in battery. Confirm your choice and your laptop will turn off.
With all the raw things out of the way, you can finally replace the SSD. Here’s how you can do that:
And that’s all you need to know about upgrading the SSD on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7. Once your computer is in one piece, you can follow the above steps in reverse order to enable the battery and fast startup feature. You can also refer to our guide to installing Windows 11 on your new SSD using the installation media we mentioned above.
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