1:50 AM
Tasawar Mughal
Intel and Micron have produced the world’s first 128Gb NAND chip using a 20nm process.
Currently producing 64Gb NAND chips on a 20nm process, Intel Micron Flash Technologies (IMFT) is set to begin manufacturing the 128Gb chip in the first half of 2012, which the high-capacity chips showing up in smartphones, tablets and SSDs in 2013.
A package using eight of these chips would put 128GB of storage on the tip of your finger. The new Flash chips are also promising faster transfer speeds, up to 333 megatransfers per second (MT/s).
"As portable devices get smaller and sleeker, and server demands increase, our customers look to Micron for innovative new storage technologies and system solutions that meet these challenges," said Glen Hawk, vice president of Micron's NAND Solutions Group. "Our collaboration with Intel continues to deliver leading NAND technologies and expertise that are critical to building those systems."
The larger capacity chip, when it finally does come to market should enable standard 2.5in drives to hold up to 2TB while Ultrabooks and Macbook Air will be available with up to 1TB of storage.
Intel has also confirmed that mass production of the 64Gb chip is underway so we should be seeing them in devices later next year. Samples of the 128Gb chip will be available in January but because of a new interface and page design they will take longer for manufacturers to test as they will have to develop new controllers and drive firmware to support the chip.
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