Asus’ new user-installable SSD bay doesn’t use tiny machine screws to hold it in place; it uses a simple plastic latch that secures the drive with a simple quarter turn. Why aren’t all installations like this?
ASUS Laptop BIOS Screen Pop-up💻 | @SiriusRepairGuru| #siriusrepairguru #gaminglaptop #laptoprepair
The Q-Latch looks more like a widget you’d find in an IKEA furniture set than a way to install an NVMe drive. The diminutive internal drives, which are little more than a bunch of chips on a bare circuit board, are typically secured in place with tiny screws. The Q-Latch is nothing more than a rotating plastic latch on a metal shaft. It’s standard on Asus’s latest AI motherboards, but could it herald the path to more repairable gadgets?
“The screw that holds SSDs in place often gets loose or lost when recyclers remove them, so this could help solve those issues,” John Bumstead, Apple laptop refurbisher and artist, told Lifewire via direct message.
"On the other hand, I can imagine the bolt breaking if people who don't know what it is put force on it, so if it breaks, what then? The screw might be more reliable."
