Laptops with upgradeable RAM: which current models have slots, which are soldered

Memory is the one specification most likely to feel too small three years in, and on many laptops it can never be changed. Product pages rarely say which kind you’re buying. The makers’ specification documents do, and this page lists what they say.

Three kinds of laptop memory

Low-power LPDDR memory is what thin laptops use for battery life, and it used to mean soldered. LPCAMM2 puts the same type of memory on a module that screws to the board: Lenovo’s sheets for the ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 and T16 Gen 5 list “one LPCAMM2 memory module” of up to 64 GB, where the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s sheet says “soldered memory, not upgradable”.

Laptops with upgradeable memory

The maximum is what the maker has tested and supports, not always the limit of the hardware: Lenovo’s sheets for the IdeaPad Slim 5a, Legion 5 and LOQ Essential 15 give 32 GB as the largest configuration it offers, and the IdeaPad Slim 3i’s 24 GB: 8 GB soldered plus one 16 GB module (its other models have one slot and no soldered memory). Dell’s owner’s manuals give 16 GB for the Dell 15 (two slots) and 32 GB for the Dell 16. The ThinkPad E14 Gen 8 has two slots and 64 GB only on its Core Ultra models; its Core 3, 5 and 7 models have one slot and 32 GB.

Laptops with soldered or unified memory

On these, the “Maximum” column is the largest amount sold, and you pick it at checkout. The Lenovo Chromebook m 14 tops out at 8 GB, as does the MacBook Neo.

Where the document doesn’t say

Dell’s US product pages list the memory installed in a configuration (“16 GB: 1 x 16 GB, DDR5” or “16GB LPDDR5x”) without saying whether it sits in a slot. Dell’s owner’s manuals do, and we used them: two SODIMM slots in the Dell 15, Dell 16 and Dell Pro 14; memory “integrated on the system board and not upgradeable” in the XPS 14 and 16. We haven’t found the manual for the Alienware 16 Aurora yet, so it stays blank.

How to choose

• Keeping the laptop five years or more, or unsure what you’ll run: pick a chassis with slots or LPCAMM2, and buy the memory you need now.
• Buying soldered: decide the amount first. Check the software you use for its recommended memory, not its minimum.
• Want light and upgradeable: the ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 starts at 2.8 lb and is the lightest upgradeable laptop we list. The lightest laptops overall are soldered: see the lightest laptops.