Intel to ship 144-layer QLC NAND by year-end

At last week's Architecture Day 2020, Intel provided an update about its flash memory roadmap. Legit Reviews offers a summary over here. Basically, the chip giant is confident that it will be able to ship its 144-layer QLC NAND flash memory by the end of this year. This new type of memory offers 50 percent greater bit density than the 96-layer QLC NAND that Intel is currently selling. Most NAND makers jumped to 128-layers but Intel decided to skip this step and move straight to 144-layers.

Besides PCI Express 4.0 SSDs with 144-layer QLC, Intel is also working on its next-generation Optane. So far, Optane didn't really live up to the hype but the chip giant is still working on improving the technology.

PCI Express 4.0 Optane products with a 2-deck design are on track for a launch sometime later this year. The second-generation Optane from Intel offers double the bit density of the first-generation, which has been on the market since 2017,

Intel has set a goal to exceed a performance gain that is more than double the original! 1st Generation Intel Optane memory used a 2-deck design in 2020 and for 2020 the 2nd Generation Optane memory will have a 4-deck design. So, Intel has also doubled the density for Optane and that will allow for larger capacity drives and hopefully lower price points. That is great news and we can’t wait to see some consumer PCIe Gen 4.0 drives in the Intel Optane SSD series!