Replacing soldered RAM chips can keep dual-channel — if done right.

Yes, dual-channel should work if you swap both chips for matching 8GB modules. The memory controller treats them as a matched pair if they’re identical in capacity, speed, and timings.

The real question is whether you can actually do the swap. Soldered RAM isn’t socketed — you need a hot air rework station, flux, steady hands, and the willingness to risk killing the motherboard. Even then, the board’s firmware might not support 8GB per channel. Some laptops have a hard cap per slot, and the BIOS/UEFI may refuse to boot with larger chips.

If you’re going forward, buy two identical 8GB chips from the same batch (same part number) to avoid timing mismatches. And check the motherboard’s datasheet or community forums to see if anyone has pulled off the upgrade successfully.

Unless you’re comfortable with microsoldering, leave this one to a pro.