Quote:Toshiba and its strategic ally Western Digital are readying a high-density 128-layer 3D NAND flash memory. In Toshiba's nomenclature, the chip will be named BiCS-5. Interestingly, despite the spatial density, the chip will implement TLC (3 bits per cell), and not the newer QLC (4 bits per cell). This is probably because NAND flash makers are still spooked about the low yields of QLC chips. Regardless, the chip has a data density of 512 Gb. With 33% more capacity than 96-layer chips, the new 128-layer chips could hit commercial production in 2020-21.

Quote:A report from DigiTimes pits NAND manufacturers as accelerating their 120/128 layer 3D NAND technologies, aiming for volume production as early as 2020. Even as SK Hynix has begun sampling its 96-layer 4D NAND flash in March, Toshiba and Western Digital already had plans to introduce 128-layer technology, built on a TLC (Triple Level Cell) process technology so as to increase density while avoiding yield issues present with current QLC (Quad Level Cell) implementations.

The decision to accelerate deployment of the next generation of NAND comes from the fact that the market still faces an oversupply of NAND flash, mostly driven by the mature process of 64-layer NAND technology. With new technologies, higher ASPs and lower production scales are sustainable, which should enable supply to reduce enough so as to increase pricing of NAND-based technologies - and allow manufacturers to somewhat reset asking prices for new NAND chips.

Quote:SK hynix Inc. announced today that it has developed and started mass-producing the world's first 128-Layer 1 Tb (Terabit) TLC (Triple-Level Cell) 4D NAND Flash, only eight months after the Company announced the 96-Layer 4D NAND Flash last year.
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The new product provides the industry's highest density of 1 Tb for TLC NAND Flash. A number of companies including SK hynix have developed 1 Tb QLC (Quad-Level Cell) NAND products, but SK hynix is the first to commercialize the 1 Tb TLC NAND Flash. TLC accounts for more than 85% of the NAND Flash market with excellent performance and reliability.
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The Company also intends to start mass production of a 2 TB client SSD with an in-house controller and software in the first half of next year. 16 TB and 32 TB Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) SSDs for cloud data centers will be released next year as well.

Quote:Micron Technology has taped out its 4th generation 3D NAND flash memory with 128 layers. This paves the way for mass production and product implementations in 2020. The 4th gen 3D NAND by Micron continues to use a CMOS-under-array design, but with Replacement Gate (RG) Technology instead of Floating Gate, which Micron and the erstwhile IMFlash Technology had been using for years. Micron is currently mass-producing 96-layer 3D NAND flash, and TLC remains the prominent data-storage physical layer despite the advent of QLC (4 bits per cell).

Micron comments that this 4th gen 128-layer 3D NAND will be a stopgap restricted to a select few applications, and may not see the kind of adoption as its current 96-layer chips.

Quote:At CES 2020, the Korean semiconductor company SK Hynix Inc plans to expand the company’s reach in the consumer market. SK Hynix will have its latest SSDs, the Gold P31 and Platinum P31 PCIe NVMe SSDs, on display.
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The company will introduce two new PCIe NVMe SSDs into the mix that cater to those seeking higher performance for gaming and multimedia editing workflows. Both drives are built using the company’s latest 128-Layer '4D NAND' flash. The new flash is making its way to market rather quickly, as SK Hynix just announced it six months ago.

Quote:SK hynix, in its Q1-2020 financial results commentary, confirmed that the company will commence mass-production of its next-generation 128-layer 3D NAND flash memory within Q2-2020 (before July). This would mark the company's transition from 96-layer 3D NAND flash, which formed the bulk of the company's NAND flash output through 2019. SK hynix is developing 128-layer 3D NAND flash chips in both TLC and QLC offerings. The company also mentioned that in Q2, it could diversify its portfolio of PCIe (NVMe) SSDs covering more markets and form-factors.

Quote:SK hynix Inc., a global semiconductor supplier based in Korea, announced today the release of its newest PCIe SSD: the SK hynix Gold P31. The latest edition is the world's first 128-layer NAND flash-based consumer SSD and the company's first consumer-facing PCIe SSD launched in the United States under the SK hynix brand.

Quote:Samsung is preparing to update its EVO lineup of SSDs with the new 870 EVO series, featuring generational improvements to Samsung's current 860 EVO lineup.

Samsung uses the latest 128-Layer 3D TLC NAND technology (same as the 980 Pro) for its 870 Evo, which could boost read and write speeds by up to 10% (if the SATA 3 interface will allow it) and increase queue depth 1 performance by up to 30%.

The drives come in capacities ranging from a paltry 250GB up to a capacious 4TB. Samsung covers the drives with a five-year warranty. Both sequential and random performance is identical regardless of the capacity point, with up to 560 MBps of sequential read and 530 MBps of write throughput, and 98,000/88,000 random read/write IOPS on tap.
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The only strange thing about the 870 EVO is its rather high suggested pricing; you can find Samsung's 860 EVO drives for much cheaper than the 870 EVO's prices. However, the 860 EVO lineup has become cheaper over the years, so perhaps we will see the same thing with the 870 EVO.

Quote:Remember SATA? We don’t talk about the older storage standard much anymore, not since M.2 became popular, but there are still a huge number of SATA SSDs on the market. Samsung’s 870 EVO SSD family is the latest iteration of Samsung hardware to serve that market, and multiple reviews online today testify to the product’s overall effectiveness.

The question of whether to use a SATA versus an M.2 SSD is an interesting example of an area where benchmarks can be accurate and yet fail to convey the experience of using a product. The practical differences between day-to-day use of an M.2 versus a SATA drive tend to be unnoticeable. If your daily use patterns involve a lot of heavy data copying, you’ll probably benefit from an M.2, but if they don’t, you can sometimes save some money and maximize available capacity by opting for a SATA drive. A 2.5″ enclosure offers a lot more room for NAND ICs than an M.2 stick.
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One reason to buy a SATA SSD as opposed to an M.2 drive is the difference in price. Looking back at previous drives, Samsung’s 1TB 860 EVO 2.5″ SSD is $109 at Newegg, while its M.2 counterpart — which also uses SATA 6G signaling, even if it fits into an M.2 slot — is $149. While M.2 drives will outperform their SATA counterparts, the difference in commercial software may not be large. (Artificial tests on sequential read/write performance will always favor M.2 drives).
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In this case, the conclusions are straightforward. Hot Hardware writes: “If you’re in need of a high-capacity, top-performing SATA SSD and want something from a well-respected brand with a long track record in the space, the Samsung SSD 870 EVO series should be on the top of your short list.” PCWorld says: “The Samsung 870 EVO is easily the best performer in its class, and a top performer in any class across all usage scenarios.” PCMag writes that the 870 EVO “should be at the top of anyone’s list who wants the best combination of performance, product quality, and price in a 2.5-incher.”

If you’re trying to figure out whether to buy a SATA SSD or an M.2 SSD, here’s ExtremeTech’s advice: If you’re happy with the I/O performance of your current SATA SSD, don’t be afraid to save a few bucks by opting for SATA, especially if you need to trim costs or if you want to put the money towards a better CPU or GPU. If you want to maximize capacity and you’re happy with current performance, don’t be afraid to opt for a larger SATA drive over a smaller M.2. If you’re still sitting on an old-fashioned hard drive and you’ve held off upgrading because SATA is old and your motherboard doesn’t support M.2, forget about that and buy yourself a SATA SSD. Switching from an HDD to an SSD is one of the few guaranteed ways to improve the performance of even an old machine.