Upgrade your Surface Laptop 3 SSD to 1TB using the Tuff Nano

So, I read a few posts on reddit (here and here and here), found a few pictures and convinced myself this was worth a try, because I sure wasn't going to pay ~£2000 just to get the 1TB model of the Surface Laptop 3.  That's far too pricey, especially after finding out I could do it for just ~£220 - it was a no brainer.

For £1,389.00 I bought myself the: Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, Intel Core i7 Processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 13.5" PixelSense Display, Platinum from John Lewis.  I would have loved the 32GB RAM model, but this was only available with the 1TB SSD and started at £2,499.00 - and I wasn't willing to fork out that sort of cash.  

The Research

My research involved finding out what SSD module was being using in the SL3.  I knew it was a NVMe module, but soon found out there were different types.  The technical docs about the SL3 describe the SSD as an M.2 2230 SSD, so my mission was to quickly jump on eBay or Amazon and get myself the largest I could find.  I found out that 512GB was the largest available, and this was not good enough.

I discovered that Toshiba had recently ("Q3 calendar year of 2019") launched their Toshiba Kioxia BG4 1TB SSD module which was the fastest available in this M.2 form factor, and it was a 2230 type.  The problem was that this SSD was not available for the regular consumer, and was only being manufactured for OEM's.

My faith wasn't lost as I found some reddit posts that enticed me to look at the 1TB Tuff Nano which was released in April I believe.  There was a glimmer of hope at last.

I contacted Caldigit's technical support via Facebook chat and had an enlightening conversation with a very helpful colleague by the name of Dalton.  He checked out the technicalities of the Nano by speaking to their engineers and confirmed that the Tuff Nano does use the M.2 2230 SSD, so I agreed to go for it.  The cost of the 1TB Tuff Nano was £229.99 and surprisingly was delivered the very next day.

The Upgrade

Pre-requisites/Before you start

• If you intend to build Windows 10 from scratch after your SSD upgrade, you will need to ensure you have your Windows 10 installation media at the ready.  You can download the Media Creation Tool from here.  Once you've completed the upgrade, insert this USB and boot from it to start the process of installing Windows.  Don't forget to install the SL3 drivers too (AMD model drivers or Intel model drivers).
  
  
• If you intend to migrate the data from your 256GB SSD over to your 1TB SSD you will need to download the official Microsoft Surface recovery image from here and follow the directions to prepare a bootable USB recovery stick. (Advanced users can try the Macrium Reflect tool to clone the original SSD directly to the external SSD while connected to the USB-C port prior to swapping or generate a recovery image directly from their running Surface.).  Once you've completed the upgrade, apply the previously prepared recovery image.

Along with my trusty SL3, and a 1TB Tuff Nano,  I bought some tools to make sure I didn't get stuck not being able to unscrew any non-standard screws along the way.  I purchased this kit from Amazon (it is similar to the iFixit Pro Toolkit, but far less expensive).

Disassembling the Tuff Nano

1. Remove the protective rubberized bumper/sleeve from the Tuff Nano

2. Lift the thin sheet of plastic branding to reveal the screws on both ends

3. Remove the 4 screws (2 on each end of the enclosure)

4. Slide out the PCB to reveal the board containing the 1TB SSD

5. Remove the single screw that is holding down the 1TB SSD

6. Remove the 1TB SSD

Disassembling the Surface Laptop 3 (detailed video demonstration available here)

7. Now onto the Laptop.  Remove the 4 plastic feet from the Surface Laptop 3

8. Remove the 4 base screws

9. Detach the top half off the keyboard unit which is magnetically connected, being careful to ensure that you remove the ribbon connection cable

10. Locate the current 256GB SSD on the board

11. Remove the single crew that is holding down the 256GB SSD

12. Remove the existing 256GB SSD, and replace with the 1TB SSD

13. Reattach the holding screw (you may need a small washer because the PCB is slightly smaller around the screw)

14. Reattach the keyboard (not forgetting to reattach the ribbon cable too)

Bonus Drive
15. You can reuse the 256GB SSD in the Tuff Nano by connecting it to the PCB and screwing it in place (the screw is blocked partially by the shielding around the 256GB SSD, so a little more force is required to get the screw to grip into place).

16. Slide the PCB back into the Tuff nano's enclosure and screw in the 4 screws.  Now you have a unofficial 256GB Tuff Nano :)

I shared my ideas and informed Dalton at Caldigit of what I have achieved.  He expressed his excitement and shared the process with his team who were all together in congratulating me on my success.  They made it clear however that in doing this, I will/have invalidated my warranty.  That is only to be expected I guess.  I'm just glad it worked!

Once you are back up and running in Windows, you can confirm your new SDD size and check device manager that everything is working as expected.

Below is a Crystal Disk Marker test showing the speeds of the new SSD.  Very impressive speeds!