If you’re like me, a laptop is probably your main (or even only) computer. The convenience is unmatched and it can go with us anywhere. But time catches up with us all, and laptops are especially susceptible.
If you’re feeling the age of your laptop and wish you could inject more power and life into it so it lasts you a few more years, you might consider upgrading some of its parts. After all, even if your laptop isn’t a modular Framework laptop, it can likely still upgrade some of its components.
But which laptop parts are worth upgrading? And which ones are you better off ignoring? Keep reading because I’m breaking it all down so you (probably) don’t have to buy a new laptop just yet.
What you can’t upgrade in laptops
Upgrading laptops can be tricky business. With so many components packed into such tight spaces, laptops are notably more restrictive compared to desktops — and those tight confines force manufacturers to make different design decisions. Practically, that often means meant-to-be-permanent builds with minimal DIY upgrade options.
In other words, certain laptop parts can’t be upgraded, period. A quick Google search might misguide you, though, and I’ve even seen Lenovo suggest that “almost any component inside your laptop can be upgraded if necessary,” even CPUs and GPUs.
The sad truth is that CPUs and GPUs are almost never upgradeable in laptops because they’re usually bonded to their motherboards. And on older laptops, displays are effectively impossible to replace because they’re hard to get to and much more involved. Even with embedded DisplayPort, it may not be as straightforward as other upgrades.
Ultimately, this means you don’t have many options for speeding up your laptop and improving the overall experience, which sucks when it starts to lag, when it can’t keep up with the increasing demands of modern apps, when it starts to feel old and outdated.
That said, let’s dive into the most commonly upgraded laptop parts and which ones to upgrade depending on what issues you’re facing.
Is it worth upgrading a laptop’s RAM?
Many laptops have upgradeable memory, though even this is becoming less common these days. If your laptop has LPDDR memory, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be soldered to the motherboard and won’t be upgradeable. If you don’t see that “LP,” though, you may be in luck.
But sometimes it’s hard to know what kind of RAM you have because it isn’t always explicitly advertised. You may have to check with your laptop manufacturer. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, you might open up your laptop’s bottom cover to investigate yourself.
Upgradeable laptop memory will look like the green circuit board in the picture above. In that same photo, you can see a second (empty) memory slot to the left of the installed memory — great news for those looking to upgrade, as they can just stick in a second memory module.
A RAM upgrade is one of the best improvements you can make to a laptop. Think of RAM as like your desk and SSD storage as like a file cabinet. The bigger your desk, the more space you have for open files; when you run out of desk space, additional files are kept in the file cabinet. If your desk space is too small, you end up having to move files back and forth from the cabinet to your desk.
That’s what happens when you don’t have enough RAM in your laptop. As your RAM fills up, additional data spills over into much slower drives, and moving data from drives to RAM can be slow. Without enough RAM, your system will feel sluggish and less responsive, and idle apps might even freeze when you return to them as data is pulled back into RAM.
Some apps may even require more RAM than exists on your system, in which case they’ll simply fail to run. (Imagine trying to work on a massive poster on a tiny side table. Not enough space to fit the whole thing!) For that, a memory upgrade may be all you need.
Note that even with upgradeable memory, you can’t just stick any RAM module into your laptop. You’ll need a compatible RAM type, and you may have to replace your current memory module if your laptop only has a single slot for RAM. See our full guide to upgrading laptop RAM.
Is it worth upgrading a laptop’s SSD?
Laptop storage comes in many shapes and sizes. If you have an older laptop, it’s possible you’re still looking at a spinning hard drive (HDD) inside your system. But most modern laptops have switched to faster solid-state drives (SSD), which can be downright tiny in comparison.
Sadly, the growing push to shrink everything down has meant fewer upgrade possibilities. But not always.
Gordon Mah Ung / IDG
If your laptop still has an HDD, upgrading to an SSD is one of the most worthwhile upgrades you can make. If you have a 2.5-inch SATA HDD, it can easily replace it with a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. This alone will dramatically speed up your system with shorter boot-up times, faster app launches, and faster file transfers. When your RAM needs to move data back and forth from storage, this faster storage will also help.
Related: How to clone an HDD to SSD for free
If your laptop already has an SSD, the value of upgrading comes down to personal judgment according to your needs. If you’re mainly gaming or doing creative work, the extra speed of a faster drive can be significant, especially going from SATA to NVMe. If you just want faster file transfers, the SSD likely isn’t as much of a bottleneck as the ports on your system. After all, even a Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 port lacks the bandwidth to match the speed of many PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
Related: SATA vs. NVMe vs. M.2, explained
If you already have an SSD in your laptop and aren’t working on bandwidth-intensive projects, your reasons to upgrade are even fewer. Basically, the main reason to upgrade here would be increased storage capacity. Since many laptops come with just 128GB or 256GB, you might think it’s worthwhile to upgrade to 512GB, 1TB, or more, especially because SSDs lose performance when capacity fills up.
If you already have an SSD in your laptop but also have an extra storage slot that’s unused, it’s probably worth getting a second drive. Just bear in mind that any additional components will consume power, so adding a second drive will impact your laptop’s battery life a bit.
When thinking about adding extra storage, also consider what you need the capacity for. If you need it to store games or apps, then it makes sense to go for internal storage. But if you’re archiving documents, photos, and videos, think external storage like flash drives and portable SSDs.
If you decide to go ahead with this but need some help, check out our full guide to adding or replacing an SSD in your laptop.
Is it worth upgrading the network card?
Did you know you can upgrade your laptop’s network card? Did you even know there’s such a thing as a network card? It’s the thing that provides Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity to your laptop, and it’s one of the most overlooked upgradeable components.
If you have an older laptop with an outdated network card that’s stuck on something like Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or even Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n), then you might want to bump it up to a card with Wi-Fi 6 or 6E (802.11ax), which will bring faster speed and improved stability.
On the other hand, if you’re experiencing problems with your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections and no amount of troubleshooting addresses it, you might just need to replace it.
The tricky thing about network card upgrades is that you need to check for compatibility, to ensure your laptop has the right slot and antennas for the new network card and that your system supports any newer tech (e.g., an old OS may not support a new Wi-Fi standard).
Further reading: Which laptops are the most upgradeable?
Author: Mark Knapp, Contributor, PCWorld
Mark is a freelance tech writer and hardware reviewer. As an avid value-seeker, he has ended up digging himself deep into just about every corner of tech, reviewing several hundred products ranging from SSDs and laptops to home theater projectors and e-bikes. He's always looking to see how the next best thing stacks up.