Tape, cables, and labeled connectors have been the defining characteristics of the XPS 13's guts. There are a lot of components, with a lot of connecting cables, and a lot of tape holding everything down.

At least it's tough, re-stickable fabric tape.

There's a small (labeled!) coin cell battery to keep the real-time clock running. We're expecting this sort of reaction when we reassemble the computer and power it back on.

To get anywhere, we're going to have to disconnect the XPS's odd display cable.

Not only is it wrapped snugly around the fan, but, for some reason, it includes a branch to power the SD card reader on the I/O board.