The first Intel Optane storage products should begin shipping soon, and it’s expected to show up in some laptop and desktop computers that launch in early 2017.
Optane storage is expected to be up to 10 times as fast as the flash storage used in most existing solid state drives. While the first Optane products are expected to be used for storage, it’s fast enough that there’s also talk of using the technology as a non-volatile replacement for RAM.
But Intel isn’t the only company planning to launch new products based on the 3D Xpoint technology used in Optane products.
Intel co-developed 3D Xpoint technology with Micron, and PC World reports that Micron plans to launch its own products based on the technology by the end of the year.
While Intel’s first Optane products include relatively small storage drives that’ll be combined with higher-capacity SSDs or hard drives to offer a speed boost to PCs, Micron is said to be focusing on solutions for high-end PCs and servers.
Micron calls its 3D Xpoint products QuantX, and the company plans to offer both SSD and DRAM based on the technology.
There’s no word yet on how much QuantX products will cost, but the fact that Micron is focusing on high-end products suggests they won’t be cheap… at least not initially.