Micron has introduced two new families of SSDs based on its latest 176-layer 3D TLC NAND. The new 2450- and 3400-series SSDs feature a PCIe 4.0 interface and are aimed at different classes of PCs and price points. Micron says the drives are in production and will be available at retail soon.
Micron's 2450-series of M.2 SSDs are designed to be affordable drives for mainstream PCs and are set to be available in M.2-2280, M.2-2242, and M.2-2230 form-factors. The family will offer 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB usable capacities.
In contrast, Micron's 3400-series SSDs are aimed at high-performance applications and will be available in 512GB to 2TB configurations as well as an M.2-2280 form factor. Both SSD families are equipped with a thin (presumably graphene-based) heat-spreader, so they are compatible with both desktops and notebooks.
Micron says that it uses in-house-developed NVMe 1.4-compliant SSD controllers for its 2450-series and 3400-series SSDs, but says that it wants to be flexible and could use third-party controllers if it needs to. Given that demand for storage devices is very high and ongoing shortages, Micron's possible use of third-party SSD controllers isn't surprising.
For unknown reasons, Micron isn't disclosing the full specifications of its 2450-series and 3400-series SSDs at this time. Instead, the company says its 3400 drives "provides twice the read throughput and up to 85% higher write throughput" compared to its predecessors.
In addition to 2450-series and 3400-series SSDs, Micron uses its 96-layer 3D NAND memory for its first UFS 3.1 automotive-grade storage devices. The unit offers 50% higher sustained write performance versus Micron's UFS 2.1 drive and will hit production sometime in the third quarter.
