What This Is
Opened a ThinkPad T490s to see the internals. No repair needed. Just wanted to check the component layout and build quality.
Whats Inside
Left side:
- Battery: Lenovo Li-ion pack, 11.4V, internal non-removable design
- Fan assembly: single fan with dual heatpipes, one to the CPU area
Center and right:
- Motherboard with CPU under the heatsink
- RAM is soldered to the board. Not upgradeable.
- M.2 slot visible but the SSD was removed in this photo
- Wireless card in an M.2 slot
Ports along the edge: USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, audio jack, and whatever else the T490s config includes.
Build Quality
Clean cable routing in channels. Single bottom panel for access. WiFi card and SSD are modular. Mostly Phillips screws. Magnesium-aluminum chassis.
Upgradeability
Not upgradeable:
- RAM (soldered)
- CPU (soldered)
- Battery (requires full disassembly)
Replaceable:
- M.2 NVMe SSD
- M.2 WiFi card
- Cooling fan
- CMOS battery
Context
The T490s is Lenovos 14-inch business ultrabook from 2019-2020. This generation got thinner with more soldered components. Older ThinkPads like the T420 era were modular and upgradeable. The T490s trades that for reduced thickness and weight.
Typical specs: Intel Core i5 or i7 (8th or 10th gen), 8GB or 16GB soldered RAM, M.2 NVMe storage, 14-inch IPS display, about 2.8 pounds, MIL-STD-810G certified.
Why I Documented This
Wanted to see what a modern ThinkPad ultrabook looks like inside. The soldered RAM was expected for this model but I wanted visual confirmation of the layout. Photo reference is useful for future work on similar machines.
Documented: August 2023 Purpose: Curiosity, component layout reference
