In a nutshell: Following a barrage of complaints from customers about failing SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro Portable SSDs, Western Digital has pledged to release a firmware update to resolve the issue. However, the company has only specifically addressed the 4TB drives in its official response thus it remains uncertain whether the 2TB models, which are also reportedly affected by this issue, will receive the firmware update.
Responding to a query from Ars Technica about the growing complaints against the SanDisk SSDs, WD said that a firmware fix to address the issue will be rolled out "soon." The response came after users thronged social media platforms, online message boards, and the official SanDisk forums to complain about the sudden failure of their new Extreme V2 and Extreme Pro V2 Portable drives.
As per the complaints, the drives are suddenly erasing all the stored data without any warning, and in some cases, becoming entirely unreadable. While most of the complaints are about the 4TB models, some are also reporting similar issues with their 2TB units. In fact, an Ars Technica staff member also confirmed read and write errors with two of his 2TB drives. Both the affected units also automatically wiped off all the data in them, including the file system.
The complaints go back several months, with one Redditor claiming that a Japanese distributor told them the problem only affects drives manufactured after November 2022. While the report could not be verified, other users have made similar claims on Reddit and Twitter. According to them, they used multiple SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro drives over the years, but only the recently-purchased ones have failed.
When contacted by Ars about the mounting complaints, a SanDisk spokesperson said that the company is aware of the issues affecting its 4TB Extreme and Extreme Pro portable SSDs, and has already identified the source of the problem. They also said that the company will soon publish a firmware update to fix the issue for good. The SanDisk rep also advised affected users to contact the company's Customer Support team for assistance.
The spokesperson, however, did not confirm an ETA for the fix, nor did they clarify whether it will also be applicable to the 2TB models. The response, therefore, has failed to mollify affected users, who are accusing the company of dragging its feet on the issue despite being notified of the problem many months ago. While the incoming update may fix the broken drives, it will be interesting to see whether this experience will put people off buying SanDisk products in the future.