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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteKioxia and Sandisk have announced 9th-generation 2Tb QLC 3D NAND with a claimed interface speed of 4.8Gb/s. That is a NAND-chip interface figure—not the read or write speed of a finished SSD—and the companies say it is 33% faster than their 8th-generation devices under the companies’ test conditions. The announcement describes memory technology intended for AI, cloud and other data-intensive storage; it does not announce a retail drive or give a shipping date.
What Kioxia and Sandisk announced
In an announcement dated August 12, 2026, Sandisk described a 9th-generation, 2Tb quad-level cell (QLC) 3D flash memory technology developed with Kioxia. The companies position it to support growing storage demand associated with AI-driven infrastructure. Sandisk’s announcement and Kioxia’s announcement identify the technology as 9th-generation QLC.
What 2Tb QLC means
QLC, or quad-level cell, is a type of NAND flash that stores four bits per cell. The 2Tb figure describes the announced memory technology’s capacity, not the capacity or performance of a finished SSD. The announcement supplies no SSD model, drive-level capacity, or retail specification.
How CBA fits in
The technology uses CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA). Kioxia describes this approach as separately manufacturing the CMOS wafer and the memory-cell-array wafer under conditions optimized for each, then bonding them together. The companies present CBA as a way to combine the two parts of the memory design; the announcement does not give a consumer-facing product or independent test result for the process.
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- Exceptional performance offering up to 550MB/s seq. Read and 500MB/s seq. Write speeds
- Superior performance as compared to traditional hard drives (HDD)
- Ultra-low power consumption
- Backwards compatible with SATA II 3GB/sec
What the 4.8Gb/s figure actually measures
The companies report a NAND interface speed of 4.8Gb/s, with “Gb/s” meaning gigabits per second. They define 1Gb/s as 1,000,000,000 bits per second and say the figure was obtained in a specific test environment, with results that may vary depending on use conditions. It describes the flash memory interface, not a finished drive’s sustained read or write throughput.
The announced 33% improvement is a comparison of this 9th-generation technology’s interface speed with 8th-generation devices. It should not be read as a claim that an SSD made with the new NAND will load files, transfer data, or complete workloads 33% faster: the releases provide no absolute drive benchmark or finished-product specification.
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- Boot up faster. Load files quicker. Improve overall system responsiveness
- 300% faster than a typical hard drive
- Improves battery life because it’s 45x more energy efficient than a typical hard drive
- Micron 3D NAND – advancing the world's memory and storage technology for 40 years
- Crucial 3-year limited warranty
What changes versus 8th-generation 2Tb QLC
Sandisk attributes higher read and write bandwidth, along with better read and write power efficiency, to the 9th-generation technology compared with its 8th-generation 2Tb QLC. The stated architectural change includes a 6-plane design, alongside other performance enhancements. The releases do not provide absolute bandwidth or power measurements, so the comparison is qualitative rather than a basis for calculating a drive’s real-world speed or energy use.
Do not confuse this with Kioxia’s 10th-generation announcement
Kioxia Europe also published a separate QLC announcement on August 12, 2026. That item describes 10th-generation technology, including 332 layers, density above 37Gb/mm², and up to 60% higher bit density than 8th-generation QLC. Those specifications belong to that distinct 10th-generation announcement, not the 9th-generation 2Tb QLC release discussed here. Kioxia Europe’s 10th-generation announcement also reports a 4.8Gb/s interface, which is one reason the two announcements can be easy to conflate.
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- Upgrade your laptop or desktop computer and feel the difference with super-fast OS boot times and application loads
- Exceptional performance offering up to 535MB/s seq. Read and 500MB/s seq. Write speeds
- Superior performance as compared to traditional hard drives (HDD)
- Ultra-low power consumption
- Backwards compatible with SATA II 3GB/sec
Kioxia separately said production of 10th-generation 3D flash had begun at Kitakami Fab2 on July 3, 2026. That production update does not establish production or availability of the 9th-generation technology. Kioxia’s production announcement concerns the 10th generation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is this an SSD you can buy?
No finished SSD, customer deployment, sampling schedule, or commercialization date for this specific 9th-generation technology is identified in the August 12 announcements. They present a NAND technology announcement, not a consumer or enterprise drive launch. Availability of a particular product should be established by a later announcement naming that product; the 10th-generation production note does not provide that information.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- Boot up faster. Load files quicker. Improve overall system responsiveness
- 300% faster than a typical hard drive
- Improves battery life because it’s 45x more energy efficient than a typical hard drive
- Micron 3D NAND – advancing the world's memory and storage technology for 40 years
- Crucial 3-year limited warranty
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