Toshiba is showcasing TLC NAND SSDs during the Flash Memory Summit (FMS) currently held in Santa Clara. The SSDs appear to be targeted at enterprise usage, but the TLC NAND might also end up in consumer level drives.
Our friends from TheSSDReview have pictured the drive and according to them the drive called SG4 is based on A19 Toggle Mode NAND flash and available in capacities of up to 1TB and in the 2.5", mSATA and M.2 formfactor.
The fact that the Flash Memory Summit is a non-consumer show and some of the enterprise like features advertised with the drive give the impression this drive isn't for consumers. However it does show that Toshiba is capable of making TLC NAND based drives. We wouldn't be surprised when Toshiba a TLC NAND based consumer drives hit the market, to compete with e.g. Samsung's TLC NAND based 840 series SSDs.
The benefit of TLC NAND is that it's cheaper. It's possible to store more data per memory cell than with SLC or MLC NAND with the disadvantage of decreased reliability. However many tests have shown that TLC NAND is sufficient for regular everyday use and the benefits of the lower price of TLC NAND based SSDs is obvious.
Read more about TLC NAND and check our endurability test here.
