More layers mean more storage per chip, and that means bigger volume sizes for your SSD. Micron unveiled the industry's first 232-layer 3D NAND memory chip on Thursday. 

Yhe business expects to ramp up manufacture of those chips sometime in late 2022. One Terabyte of raw capacity in Micron's 232-layer 3D NAND chip (128GB). The chip leverages Micron's CMOS under array (CuA) design to produce two arrays of 3D NAND on top of each other. That means lower production costs and more aggressive pricing for devices based on these chips. Micron did not reveal the 232L 3D TLC NAND IC's I/O speeds or plane count but hinted that it will outperform existing 3D NAND devices, which will be beneficial for next-generation SSDs with PCIe 5.0 interface.

Micron's executive vice president of technology and products, Scott DeBoer, said the company has worked closely with NAND controller makers (for SSDs and other NAND-based storage devices) to ensure correct compatibility for the new memory type (and make sure those upcoming drives end up in our best SSDs list). Micron's 232-layer 3D TLC NAND has reduced power consumption than previous generation nodes, which is a plus given Micron's historical focus on mobile applications and relationships with device makers.

Considering Micron will begin producing 232-layer 3D TLC NAND devices in late 2022, we can expect SSDs using the new memory to emerge in 2023.