JUNE 2020 PCWorld 87straightforward, though spotting the M.2 slot
is hard at first. With the hinges facing down,
look to the right of the RAM enclosure and
you’ll see a little black stripe—and a screw
two inches farther to the right. Remove that
screw, insert the M.2 drive into the port, press
it down, and then put the screw back in.
That’s it. You’re done.
Replacing the existing drive is a bit more
complicated because Dell uses an M.2
2230-size SSD. This is quite a bit
smaller than the usual M.2 2280 (or
22mm x 80mm) form factor used by a
Samsung 970 Evo, our 1TB Firecuda,
and so forth.
The primary drive is also semi-
hidden underneath a thermal panel—
though proximity to the empty 2.5-
inch enclosure means you might
mistake it as the place for your
secondary drive. (I did.)
Unscrew this tiny piece of metal,
then unscrew the primary drive and remove it.
Once it’s out, you’ll see a tiny metal brace set
to the “2230” marker. Remove that as well,
swivel it, and then slot it into the clips for the
2280 setting (assuming you’re using a
standard M.2 drive). And then...put it all
back together.
This approach is also more complicated
because you’ve removed the C: drive.
Before upgrading, you’ll need to navigate toThis is what you’re looking for. Notice the “M.2”
label on the motherboard.
All secured! Easy.It looks like this when closed up.