SanDisk's prototype 4TB flash drive fits in your pocket

[Shawn Knight]

Why it matters: SanDIsk has managed to cram 4TB of storage into a drive that easily fits into your pocket. Most won't have a need to carry around such large files on their person, especially these days with cloud storage and subscription services, but creative professionals may be able to get some mileage out of it.

Western Digital subsidiary SanDisk at CES 2019 is showing off a prototype 4TB thumb drive featuring a USB Type-C interface. It’s being billed as the world’s highest capacity USB drive although technically, it’s more of a tiny SSD considering the Type-C connector is attached to a small wire, but that’s beside the point.

Unfortunately, there’s not much else to report about the drive. SanDisk isn’t sharing hardware specifications and potential pricing / launch information also remains a mystery. Truth be told, however, the product will probably never make it to market, at least not in this iteration.

SanDisk did something similar at last year’s CES, showcasing a 1TB USB-C drive that never launched. The idea here isn’t so much to showcase a future product but to demonstrate advancements in flash technology. Cramming 4TB of storage onto a drive that can easily fit into your pocket certainly accomplishes that goal.

If SanDisk did decide to go to market with this drive, it’d be prohibitively expensive considering 2TB flash drives currently command around $1,200.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/78189-sandisk-prototype-4tb-flash-drive-fits-pocket.html

 

[Uncle Al]

ROFLMAO ...... I simply can't believe they would bother, especially when you consider what the price point is going to have to be!

 

[Slappy McPhee]

ROFLMAO ...... I simply can't believe they would bother, especially when you consider what the price point is going to have to be!

its all about showcasing what COULD be done really. another great example of this is running an RTX2080 on the PCIe slot on a Single Board Computer like the Latte Panda Alpha. not practical at all, but it CAN be done.

 

[dualkelly]

ROFLMAO ...... I simply can't believe they would bother, especially when you consider what the price point is going to have to be!

10 years ago 2009 Kingston released the first 128GB flash drive with a price of $546 dollars. Ten years later the 128GB sticks are pretty much the go-to sticks costing about 15-20 dollars.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

This is something you'd expect a CEO or Government official to be carrying around.

I'm glad to see Flash Storage growing and getting cheaper, but for the mean time, most people will stick to a 4TB USB 3.0 portable HDD.

 

[cliffordcooley]

its all about showcasing what COULD be done

If it is not going to be done and placed on a shelf for purchase, I couldn't care less.

 

[fktech]

Waiting for the 50 TB version....

Add a projected screen, mouse and keyboard and I will have Star Wars in my pocket.

 

[Darth Shiv]

I mean thats a lot of space and all but don't flash drives stop working after about 2 years?

Dunno who you are buying yours off!

 

[Qrox]

I mean thats a lot of space and all but don't flash drives stop working after about 2 years?

Well maybe they would last longer if you stopped throwing them in with your washing every 2 days.
I have a flash drive here that is about 12-14 years old that is still working.

 

[floor board]

Who knows maybe it'll end up like the 128 gb drive shown a few years ago ._.