Intel Entering Solid State Drive Market - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Intel Entering Solid State Drive Market

CNet reports that Intel is entering the Solid State Drive (SSD) market later this year to compete against existing suppliers such as Samsung, Toshiba, and SanDisk. Up to this point Intel has only offered small-capacity products up to 16GB in size. In Q2, Intel will be introducing 80GB and 160GB 1.8 and 2.5-inch SSDs aimed at the laptop market. Intel also promises significant performance gains over existing SSD products:

"When Intel launches its...products, you'll see that not all SSDs are created equal," Winslow said. "The way the SSDs are architected, the way the controller and firmware operates makes a huge difference"

The drives are expected to come with an SATA interface, making them not directly compatible with the MacBook Air -- the only Apple laptop that offers an SSD option. As SSD drives drop in price, however, we can expect them to be offered with other Apple laptops. Intel believes prices will drop 40-50% per year.

Solid State Drives offer advantages of faster performance, lower power requirements and durability over traditional hard drives.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Popular Stories

Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Apple Card Promo to Offer Free AirPods Pro 3

Friday May 15, 2026 8:59 am PDT by
Starting as early as next week, customers who sign up for an Apple Card at Apple's retail stores in the U.S. will receive $249 cash back when they purchase AirPods Pro 3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The promotion has yet to be officially announced by Apple, so exact terms and conditions are not available at this time. AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $249 in the U.S., so customers who...
Apple WWDC25 iOS 26 CarPlay Light mode 250609

Six Popular iPhone Apps Now Available on CarPlay

Thursday May 14, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's CarPlay system for accessing iPhone apps on a vehicle's dashboard screen has received six popular apps in recent weeks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and the indie artist streaming platform Audiomack. Make sure you have the latest version of each app and they will automatically appear on CarPlay. ChatGPT Starting with iOS 26.4, CarPlay supports voice-based...
ipad mini 7 blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Thursday May 14, 2026 5:08 am PDT by
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code...