A year after showing off an 8TB portable SSD prototype at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show, Western Digital has yet to actually sell an SSD that large. Up until recently most of the company’s portable SSDs have topped out at 2TB.
But now WD is doubling that number.
The company is introducing new 4TB portable drives with some models reaching top read/write speeds as high as 2,000 MB/s. The only catch? They’re so expensive that you might be better off just buying two or three lower capacity drives.
Here’s a run-down of the new line of portable SSDs:
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 4TB portable SSD: This portable NVMe SSD can hit read and write speeds up to 2,000 MB/s, has an aluminum chassis, and will sell for around $750. WD says it’s coming “later this calendar year.”
- SanDisk Extreme 4TB portable SSD: With read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds up to 1,000 MB/s, this model is about half as fast as the Pro model, but it has a semi-rugged case with IP55 water and dust resistance and support for surviving falls up to 2 meters (about 6.6 feet). It’s coming later this year for $700.
- WD Black P50 Game Drive 4TB portable SSD: Designed for gamers, this model is designed to be compatible with a PC, PS4, or Xbox One and supports read/write speeds up to 2,000 MB/s. It’ll sell for $750 when it hits the streets later this year.
- WD My Passport 4TB portable SSD: The most affordable of WD’s new 4TB portable SSDs, this model still ain’t cheap. It’s expected to sell for around $680 and supports read/write speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and 1,000MB/s respectively. The My Passport SSD comes in gray, red, blue, gold and silver colors and offers shock and vibration resistance and drop resistance that should let it survive a fall from 1.98 meters (6.5 feet).