Samsung Announces Fast 256GB Solid State Drive (SSD)

[MacRumors]

Samsung announced that they will begin delivering a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) later this year. The drive uses a standard SATA II interface, making it compatible with existing Macs. Besides becoming the largest Solid State Drive on the market, Samsung promises remarkable read and write performance:

With a sequential read speed of 200 megabytes per second (MB/s) and sequential write speed of 160MB/s, Samsung’s MLC-based 2.5-inch 256GB SSD is about 2.4 times faster than a typical HDD.

The drive will begin sampling in September, with mass production "by year end". Samsung will deliver the drive in 2.5" and 1.8" versions, though we are uncertain if the 1.8" version will be thin enough to fit in the MacBook Air.

Apple first introduced the use of a SSD in their products with the $999 SSD upgrade for MacBook Air. The price to performance benefit of the current SSDs has been somewhat disappointing, though there does appear to be a small battery life advantage. As the economics of solid state drives continue to improve, we are likely to see them being introduced into future Apple laptops. Unfortunately, Samsung has not yet announced the pricing of their 256GB drive, which will likely remain a very expensive option.

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[SkippyThorson]

Amen. Way to speed up the Air. More excuse to get one!

[MacinDoc]

At the rate that the capacity of SSDs is increasing, HDs could go the way of the floppy within 5 years...

[motulist]

iPod, Touch and iPhone are just dying for this technology to reach the 1 inch storage drive form factor that they use! (iirc)

[tuneman07]

Now the air will be really cool and worth the money- oh wait no it wont. I bet some air lovers out there even think this will boost sales.

[DoFoT9]

YYAAAAYYYY
this is an awsome thing, when they come out i might put on in my CD MBP give me awsome battery life.

[winterspan]

Originally Posted by DoFoT9

YYAAAAYYYY
this is an awsome thing, when they come out i might put on in my CD MBP give me awsome battery life.

Originally Posted by SkippyThorson

Amen. Way to speed up the Air. More excuse to get one!

Originally Posted by lil' brudder

....I bet it will be super expensive though, unfortunately. (I might buy it anyway )

HAHA! Keep dreaming you guys.. This thing is going to easily cost over $5,000...

[motulist]

Originally Posted by winterspan

HAHA! Keep dreaming you guys.. This thing is going to easily cost over $5,000...

What makes you think that? 64 GB SSD in the MBA costs $1000, and 64 * 4 = 256, and $1000 * 4 = $4000. Even if you add on an extra premium for it being a new technology making it cost more per megabyte (which is not the direction cost per megabyte usually goes) then it still doesn't sound like there's any reason fo it to cost over $5000.

[Santabean2000]

Originally Posted by winterspan

HAHA! Keep dreaming you guys.. This thing is going to easily cost over $5,000...

This year... $3000 next year, and will be a notebook standard within 5 years.

Dream on? Giddy Up!

[deputylove8]

Okay kewl! I've just developed a way for me to buy this thing...

1) Sell my house and
2) Work for the next 2910 years and save 95% of my savings and
3) Find the cure for cancer and sell off the patent to the highest bidder

....yeah! I can finally make my downpayment

[ntrigue]

Originally Posted by MacinDoc

At the rate that the capacity of SSDs is increasing, HDs could go the way of the floppy within 5 years...

Realistic analogy.

[BlizzardBomb]

Originally Posted by MacinDoc

At the rate that the capacity of SSDs is increasing, HDs could go the way of the floppy within 5 years...

Highly likely. Although the 3.5" form factor won't go down without a fight, as HDDs have a huge advantage there.

[Cyburnclassic]

This is good news, though a 128GB version on the MBA will be released before the 256GB obviously, and how much extra would the price be between the 64GB version and 128GB Version? (about $900-1100) im guessing

[Manic Mouse]

Originally Posted by Apple Insider

The 256GB drive changes this by switching to a new approach to multi-level cell storage that allegedly solves the problems of the format. The technology allows data to be much more densely packed, but has traditionally been slow and short-lived. However, a new drive controller not only gives it the same speed as single-level storage but gives it the same kind of longevity, at roughly one million hours before a failure occurs.

As it's more efficient in storing data, the multi-level cell technology is also "considerably" less expensive to make, though Samsung has stopped short of revealing the exact difference.

This is the most important part of this announcement, forget about the capacity and speed.

This technology could reduce the price of SSDs, and that's their main problem.

[lil' brudder]

man, this is really exciting with all the advantages we can have from large SSDs. I bet it will be super expensive though, unfortunately. (I might buy it anyway )

[DMann]

Originally Posted by lil' brudder

man, this is really exciting with all the advantages we can have from large SSDs. I bet it will be super expensive though, unfortunately. (I might buy it anyway )

Expensive as it may be, this will bring the price of the 64G SSD way down.

[mhnajjar]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=489055

[arn]

Originally Posted by mhnajjar

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=489055

The only problem with that thread is they assume it can be used in the MBA. It may not for two possible reasons

- PATA interface on MBA
- may not be thin enough (no thickness has been given on the 1.8" drive)

arn

[twoodcc]

glad to see this. i know it will be very expensive, but it will make the 64 gb drive cheaper. hopefully this will make it into the air at macworld

[MacTheSpoon]

If it's faster, does that mean it will need to draw more power than the current 64GB SSD to get the extra speed?

[MacinJosh]

I have been an avid advocate of SSD drives for over 10 years when they didn't even exist. I'm glad to finally see them being developed into a serious competition for traditional ones.

Joshua.

[tirerim]

Hmm. Even if it is too thick, there might be a 128 GB version that would fit in the Air. Assuming that they make a PATA version of it, too, or that Apple switches the Air to SATA. Anyone know what Apple's particular reason for using PATA was? If it was just to match the drives they wanted (rather than being lighter or less power-intensive or something), then I could see them switching for better drives.

I just hope a 128 GB SSD is cheap enough for me to afford one by the time I want to buy an Air (probably sometime in 2009).

[Analog Kid]

Originally Posted by motulist

What makes you think that? 64 GB SSD in the MBA costs $1000, and 64 * 4 = 256, and $1000 * 4 = $4000. Even if you add on an extra premium for it being a new technology making it cost more per megabyte (which is not the direction cost per megabyte usually goes) then it still doesn't sound like there's any reason fo it to cost over $5000.

Yep, and it can certainly be made cheaper than 4, 64GB drives-- this is using multilevel cell memory, which means fewer chips, less silicon, fewer interconnects... If Samsung got aggressive this could be priced at 2x the 64GB drive, and probably even less than that.

I'll be interested to see the full performance specs when it ships.

[junkmailbonzai]

I am just glad the technology is being pursued and advanced so eventually all of us can reap the benefits.

[MrCrowbar]

Originally Posted by tirerim

Hmm. Even if it is too thick, there might be a 128 GB version that would fit in the Air. Assuming that they make a PATA version of it, too, or that Apple switches the Air to SATA. Anyone know what Apple's particular reason for using PATA was? If it was just to match the drives they wanted (rather than being lighter or less power-intensive or something), then I could see them switching for better drives.

I just hope a 128 GB SSD is cheap enough for me to afford one by the time I want to buy an Air (probably sometime in 2009).

Apple might just "ask" to get one with PATA, just like they asked Intel to shrink that processor. Or, update the Macbook Air Logic board to one with a SATA Interface.