Micron isn't achieved with client SSDs in spite of everything, unveiling a PCIe 5.0 QLC drive that must be each reasonably priced *and* quick

I am not going to mislead you, SSD pricing is fairly dire proper now because of the reminiscence apocalypse. As such, the tip of 2025 was all doom and gloom about how we could not see sensibly priced storage for who is aware of how lengthy—even Micron killed off its personal Essential model, which had offered a number of the greatest SSDs for gaming beforehand. And but, a Micron-made SSD survives in 2026.

The corporate has simply introduced the Micron 3610 NVMe SSD, which it payments as “the trade’s first PCIe Gen5 QLC consumer SSD, powered by Micron G9 NAND.” This launch means that not solely is Micron retaining at the very least a toe within the client market regardless of what was implied mere weeks in the past, however that the corporate could even assist pave the way in which again to affordable storage pricing.

Traditionally, QLC is not what you need wherever close to your SSD, because of its excessive bits per cell resulting in sluggish efficiency and questionable reliability. However occasions are altering; final yr, SK Hynix launched 321-layer QLC flash reminiscence chips that boasted 100% sooner switch speeds and as much as 56% higher write efficiency than earlier QLC reminiscence. Lengthy story brief, the higher NAND density afforded by QLC tech packing within the layers ought to ultimately imply cheaper SSDs.

Fortunately, the Micron 3610 NVMe SSD does not disappoint on efficiency. As one other DRAM-less drive, the 3610 is geared in direction of power effectivity, apparently offering an “as much as 43% enchancment on efficiency per watt.” It additionally enjoys a sequential learn efficiency of as much as 11 GB/s and a sequential write of as much as 9.3 GB/s, making for a speedy recreation drive. Nevertheless, that is not the place the US-based firm is aiming its highlight.

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Gaming does nonetheless get a look-in throughout the 3610’s product trailer, nevertheless it’s clearly not the primary focus, with the SSD’s suitability in direction of thrashing towards massive AI fashions as an alternative being what’s pitched because the headline act.

That is maybe unsurprising for Micron, which matches on to elaborate, “It’s able to loading 20 billion-parameter AI fashions in lower than three seconds, delivering real-time AI insights and high-quality expertise for mainstream consumer units.”

The Micron 3610 NVMe SSD is obtainable in three M.2 kind components—2280, 2242, and 2230—plus capacities as much as 4 TB. It is price noting the 1 TB mannequin is barely slower than the bigger capability choices, solely getting as much as 7,200 MB/s on the sequential write. That is nonetheless quick sufficient for lots of video games and slim sufficient to suit inside even the thinnest of gaming laptops, however Micron is clearly extra enthusiastic about supporting client demand for native AI workloads.

A lot of CES 2026 has been AI-focussed, although that is regardless of lacklustre client enthusiasm, relatively than being fuelled by it. Dell’s presentation was a little bit of a standout at this yr’s commerce present for retaining their messaging decidedly AI-lite; Dell head of product, Kevin Terwilliger, even went so far as to say, “What we have discovered over the course of this yr, particularly from a client perspective, is they are not shopping for primarily based on AI. In truth I believe AI most likely confuses them greater than it helps them perceive a particular end result.”

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