SD cards, long renowned for their compact design and significant storage capabilities, have traditionally lagged behind other storage solutions like HDDs and SSDs in terms of capacity growth. Western Digital is set to change this, announcing that it intends to release 4TB SD cards in its SanDisk lineup in the coming year.
The announcement, as covered by Anandtech and Ars Technica, is expected to excite users of digital cameras and other handheld devices who have long been limited by the current 2TB capacity limits.
Despite the SDUC (Secure Digital Ultra Capacity) format, part of the 7.0 SD specification, allowing for theoretical capacities of up to 128TB, no such products exist yet. This is primarily due to the spatial constraints of SD cards, which limit the number of NAND flash chips that can be integrated to increase storage.
To overcome this, manufacturers have had to develop more sophisticated and costly methods to boost storage density. These methods typically involve 3D stacking, where memory cells are arranged both vertically and horizontally. For instance, Western Digital’s SN850X SSD features two NAND flash chips, each with eight dies consisting of two planes of 112 layers of memory cells.
To achieve the 4TB capacity in a standard SD card form factor, Western Digital will likely need to employ even denser stacking, as the physical space available on the chip limits the number of dies that can be accommodated.
While SD cards are not typically recognized for their speed, the upcoming 4TB model will offer improved performance, utilizing a UHS-I (Ultra High Speed) interface and a Class 10 speed rating, ensuring a minimum data transfer rate of 10 MB/s and a maximum of 104 MB/s. Additionally, it will carry a V30 Video Speed Class designation, indicating a minimum sequential write speed of 30 MB/s.
Although these speeds may not match those of a typical NVMe drive, they should suffice for high-resolution video recording with digital cameras. While not ideal for gaming on handheld devices, the 4TB SD card will significantly enhance storage capacity for those who prioritize space over speed.
Pricing for the new 4TB SD cards has not been announced by Western Digital. However, considering that a 1TB SanDisk Extreme Pro card, with similar interface specifications, is currently priced at around $140 on Amazon, the cost of the 4TB version is expected to be considerably higher.
The prospect of a 4TB storage device in such a small form factor is a testament to the advancements in modern chip engineering. The challenge remains to design these tiny storage solutions in a way that minimizes the risk of misplacing them amidst the clutter.
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