Crucial M500 SSD announced

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The next-generation M500 solid state drive (SSD) is designed to meet the increasingly demanding needs of the mobile computing market. It is offered in three thin, lightweight form factors with capacities from 120, 240 GB and 960GB. The SSD read speed will be 500 MB/sec but 130MB/s to 400MB/s on writes depending on capacity and volume size.



Micron: We built the M500 from start to finish using our 20nm MLC NAND Flash—one of the most advanced and cost-effective NAND devices in the industry—and our custom SSD firmware. The result is a high-quality and reliable drive at a very competitive price point from a trusted NAND manufacturer.

Why Choose the M500 SSD?

High Performance and Responsiveness: Enables significantly faster boot, file, and application load times compared to traditional hard drives.

Low Power: Consumes significantly less power that our previous-generation SSDs, which translates to longer battery life for mobile applications.

Best-in-Class Hardware Encryption: Self encryption maintains data security in the event of a device theft or loss. Unlike some competitors, the M500 complies with several stringent industry standards, including TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE 1667. This means it meets compliance regulations for government and large organizations (medical, banking, etc.) that require a centrally managed encryption solution that cannot be defeated by individual users.

Power-Loss Protection:  In the rare event that power fails while the drive is operating, power-loss protection helps ensure that data isn’t corrupted. To supplement our power-sensing firmware protection, our SSD engineers designed physical power reserves (capacitors) that are specifically tailored to our NAND requirements and deliver enough power to ensure data remains intact.  

Adaptive Thermal Throttling: Continuously samples temperature and monitors for extreme conditions. If the temperature exceeds 65°C (150°F), the drive works with the host to adjust NAND workload and power consumption to help decrease the temperature back within the acceptable range—an important feature for tightly designed systems with little airflow.

Flexibility: Offered in three thin, lightweight form factors and several different capacities from 120–960GB to meet unique application requirements.

Reliability: Built from the ground up, the M500 is a high-quality, reliable drive from a trusted NAND manufacturer.

Ultrathin-Ready

Ultrathins are the future of the mobile PC industry, and we designed the M500 SSD with the following extended features for the ultrathin market:

  • Device Sleep Low-Power Mode Support: Enables devices to always be on and connected without unnecessarily reducing battery life or system responsiveness. This low-power feature is an Intel Ultrabook requirement; it enables the M500 SSD to draw93% less power compared to previous-generation drives.
  • Improved Thermal Management: Enables the drive to work with the host computer to adapt to temperature fluctuations based on usage demands. 
  • Slim, Lightweight Form Factors:  Allow the drive to easily fit into ultrathin designs.  
  • Instant System Response Time: Provides instant-on responsiveness—through improved device-ready times—and fast application load times.
  • Durability: Because SSDs contain no moving parts like hard drives, they withstand the bumps and bruises of mobile computing much better.  

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