Old Laptop SSDs Can Be Reused as Fast USB-C External Drives
Millions of retired laptops still contain working solid-state drives that often end up discarded with the rest of the machine. A removable SSD placed in a USB-C enclosure can keep delivering read speeds around 500 MB/s or more, extending its useful life. The article notes that such enclosures, like a Sabrent model supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, can reach roughly 2.5 GB/s on a compatible host and are relatively inexpensive compared with pre-built external drives. It outlines a workflow covering checking whether the drive is removable, backing up data, assessing drive health, formatting, and installing the SSD into the enclosure. Soldered SSDs, such as those in some Apple ultra-thin laptops, cannot be removed and so cannot be repurposed this way.
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