Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

12

Time Required

                          40 minutes - 1 hour

Sections

1

  • Dell XPS 13 Repairability Assessment
  • 12 steps

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  • BackDell XPS 13 (9343/9350)

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Dell XPS 13 Repairability Assessment
  • Packaging and open reference shots.

Packaging and open reference shots.

1024

Step 2

  • Front and back reference shots.

Front and back reference shots.

Step 3

  • Removing the back cover is straightforward—remove the eight T6 screws and the single Phillips, then pry the back cover off.

Removing the back cover is straightforward—remove the eight T6 screws and the single Phillips, then pry the back cover off.

Step 4

  • Internal reference shot.
  • Looks like battery, speakers, CMOS battery, SSD, wi-fi card, DC socket, and daughterboard are easily accessible.

Internal reference shot.

Looks like battery, speakers, CMOS battery, SSD, wi-fi card, DC socket, and daughterboard are easily accessible.

Step 5

  • There’s some tape over the battery so we peel it off before removing the four screws securing it to the lower case.

There’s some tape over the battery so we peel it off before removing the four screws securing it to the lower case.

Step 6

  • Next out is the SSD and and the wireless card.
  • All the cables we’ve encountered thus far have some tape on them. Not a ton, but some will need to be replaced unless you’re very careful during disassembly.

Next out is the SSD and and the wireless card.

All the cables we’ve encountered thus far have some tape on them. Not a ton, but some will need to be replaced unless you’re very careful during disassembly.

Step 7

  • The display connector is a little tricky. It’s secured by a bracket and five pieces of tape, but at least had a handy pull-tab to assuage worries about breaking the connector.

The display connector is a little tricky. It’s secured by a bracket and five pieces of tape, but at least had a handy pull-tab to assuage worries about breaking the connector.

Step 8

  • We go to pull the fan out before the motherboard but its foot is caught in the way.
  • So we remove six motherboard screws and the the thermal management comes right afterwards.

We go to pull the fan out before the motherboard but its foot is caught in the way.

So we remove six motherboard screws and the the thermal management comes right afterwards.

Step 9

  • Motherboard reference.

Motherboard reference.

Step 10

  • The trackpad comes out fairly easily—remove four screws and, unfortunately, a bit of tape.
  • Then parts just start flying. After loosening a handful of Phillips screws we can remove the daughterboard (home to a USB port and SD card reader), speakers, RTC battery (which is just glued in place), and the DC-in socket.
  • And after removing a couple dozen more screws, the keyboard comes out with no drama (and no tape!).

The trackpad comes out fairly easily—remove four screws and, unfortunately, a bit of tape.

Then parts just start flying. After loosening a handful of Phillips screws we can remove the daughterboard (home to a USB port and SD card reader), speakers, RTC battery (which is just glued in place), and the DC-in socket.

And after removing a couple dozen more screws, the keyboard comes out with no drama (and no tape!).

Step 11

  • The display assembly is held in with four Phillips screws and is easy to remove.
  • Before discarding the palmrest, we pull out this small breakout board that drives the keyboard.
  • This particular board is very heavily glued in place, but it’s unlikely you’ll ever need to remove it.

The display assembly is held in with four Phillips screws and is easy to remove.

Before discarding the palmrest, we pull out this small breakout board that drives the keyboard.

This particular board is very heavily glued in place, but it’s unlikely you’ll ever need to remove it.

Step 12

  • The Dell XPS 13 earns a 7 out of 10 on our repairability scale (10 is the easiest to repair):
  • Manufacturer provides free manuals online.
  • Once you manage to take off the bottom cover, all the parts are pretty easily replaceable.
  • Screws and connectors are labeled, aiding reassembly.
  • Moderate adhesive—except for the display assembly, no heat is required to disassemble.
  • The layering could be improved to make certain components easier to remove, but overall the modular design makes repairs cheaper.
  • Soldered RAM means you’ll never be able to upgrade when things get slow.

The Dell XPS 13 earns a 7 out of 10 on our repairability scale (10 is the easiest to repair):

Manufacturer provides free manuals online.

Once you manage to take off the bottom cover, all the parts are pretty easily replaceable.

Screws and connectors are labeled, aiding reassembly.

Moderate adhesive—except for the display assembly, no heat is required to disassemble.

The layering could be improved to make certain components easier to remove, but overall the modular design makes repairs cheaper.

Soldered RAM means you’ll never be able to upgrade when things get slow.

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                    Evan Noronha

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Tom W - Apr 29, 2019

Reply

What version of the XPS 13 9333 did you use for your demonstration? The one I have just looked at had a significantly different layout and assortment of connections. For example, the flat copper-colored U-shaped connector is flipped 180 from your image.

Actually, the images show a layout that is about 180 out from what I viewed.

tom

Xavier Jiang - Apr 18, 2020

I can confirm that the layout in 9343 / 9350 / 9360 is IDENTICAL. They shares the chassis.

The 9543 / 9550 /9560 and the precision shares the chassis (confirmed). Internals should be similar but varies wildly from configuration to configuration (e.g. a smaller battery and a 2.5 inch HDD OR a big battery with no 2.5 inch), discrete soldered or socket GPUs and the like.

The two looks very similar, so be rather sure. The 15 inch tend to get “better” stuff.

For the L321X, 9333, the 9q23 and the “older” models the layout IS different (but they should share the chassis)

Sam Greenwood - Nov 18, 2020

Reply

Are there multiple SSD slots?

Xavier Jiang - Nov 18, 2020

No. The 9360 don’t have enough internal space.

The 9560 had two options: A big (96 WH I think) battery, or a small battery (I think it’s a 65WH but different shape), but you have a 2.5 inch slot.

The (even) newer XPS 15 don’t have a 2.5 inch but give you two slots of PCIe/SATA SSD slots.

And, supposedly the mounting point for the SSD is replaceable (for the different length), but I can’t find one and/or the plentiful 2280 rendered other sizes obsolete.

Note that these slots should support both NVMe/PCIe and SATA protocols and also feature Intel RST (rapid storage technology). See BIOS.