If you only have one M.2 slot then M.2 to USB adapters are stupid cheap and infinitely useful as a fast AF flash drive.

If your drive is sata then those are also cheap and the same applies, just not quite as fast.

CPU: intel 7th gen or earlier.

I doubt companies will be flooding markets with anything. 7th gen devices came out almost a decade ago (yes it’s almost been that long since 2016) and most companies only keep computers for 3-5 years max.