Building on the SanDisk Professional line that it launched a year ago, WD has announced the SanDisk Professional Pro-Blade Modular SSD Ecosystem, a scalable solution for videographers, photographers, and other professionals and prosumers who require high-volume data storage and quick transfer speeds, whether onsite or in the studio. The company has also boosted the maximum read speeds on its UHS-1 SD and microSD cards, and announced a new card reader for these formats.
Scalable Storage for Videographers and Other Creatives
The Pro-Blade SSD Mag is essentially an SSD in cartridge form. It will come in three capacities: 1TB ($179.99), 2TB ($289.99), and 4TB ($599.99), and is expected to be available in June. It lacks standard ports; instead bearing a custom connector and fitting into a slot on either the portable, one-bay Pro-Blade Transport or the four-bay desktop Pro-Blade Station. This PCI Express 3.0 NVMe SSD is capable of sequential read and write speeds of up to 3,000MBps and 2,600MBps, respectively. It is built to withstand a 3-meter drop and a 4,000lb crush, and it’s good for more than 2,000+ “mating cycles” (insertions into the Pro-Blade Transport and/or Pro-Blade Station).
The Pro-Blade Transport ($69.99, with discounted prices when sold together with SSD Mag cartridges) is also expected to be available in June. It has one slot to fit a Pro-Blade SSD Mag and has USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 connectivity, offering maximum sequential read and write speeds of 2,000MBps. It is equipped with a heat sink, and its aluminum base also facilitates heat dissipation. The Pro-Blade Transport can be attached directly to a compatible USB-C camera’s rig to facilitate data capture, so that you can swap out SSD Mag cartridges with minimal interruption to shooting.
Equipped with four slots for Pro-Blade SSD Mags, the Pro-Blade Station has two Thunderbolt 3 ports and can transfer data up to the SSD Mags’ maximum read and write speeds of up to 3,000MBps and 2,600MBps. Its flow-through ventilation provides active cooling for the SSDs during data transfer. Price and availability for the Pro-Blade Station have yet to be announced.
Fast SD Cards, New Card Reader
In addition to the Pro-Blade ecosystem, WD announced that it boosted UHS-I read speeds on its SanDisk Extreme Pro-class memory card line to up to 200MBps, which it claims are the fastest UHS-I SD and microSD memory cards in the world.
WD is also releasing a new card reader for SD and microSD cards. The SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I SD card pricing ranges from 64GB ($18.79 list) up to 1TB ($279.99 list), and the SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I microSD card pricing ranges from 64GB ($19.99) and 1TB ($329.99) from the WD store and may vary by retailer. The SanDisk Professional Pro-Reader SD & microSD device is expected to ship in June 2022 for $49.99. Stay tuned for our review of the new Pro-Reader.
