SanDisk Says Goodbye To WD Blue and Black SSDs, Hello To New 'Optimus' Drives (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0180519597
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/01/05/1957206/sandisk-says-goodbye-to-wd-blue-and-black-ssds-hello-to-new-optimus-drives
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/sandisk-says-goodbye-to-wd-blue-and-black-ssds-hello-to-new-optimus-drives/
Under the new structure, the entry-level WD Blue SN5100 becomes the SanDisk Optimus 5100, mid-tier WD Black drives shift to Optimus GX, and high-end WD Black SSDs become Optimus GX Pro. The Optimus 5100 uses slower quad-level cell flash, the GX 7100 steps up to triple-level cell memory, and the GX Pro 8100 adds a PCIe 5.0 interface and dedicated DRAM cache. SanDisk offered no timeline for its WD Green and WD Red drives. The rebranding arrives as SSD prices climb on demand from AI data centers -- volatility that prompted Micron last month to discontinue its Crucial-branded consumer drives and RAM.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/sandisk-says-goodbye-to-wd-blue-and-black-ssds-hello-to-new-optimus-drives/
Sandisk and PW protection... (Score:2)
One thing I found useful with external SSDs by Sandisk was the password protection, in addition to using BitLocker, FileVault, VeraCrypt, LUKS, etc. The password protection would stop some casual person who got possession of the drive, and likely they would just click "erase disk" after some random guesses at the passphrase, ensuring the data was gone with a new AES key. (I keep backups, so I rather have the data gone than in the wrong hands.)
Tuns out that the app that was used for that wasn't just obsole
Re: (Score:3)
All of those proprietary apps died off because there is a standard now. Self-encrypting drives (SEDs) are commonplace, cheaper, and more compatible than ever.
It's easier, too. Just buy a TCG Opal compliant drive. Not every consumer brand offers one, but there is a decent range of consumer-class options.
For ease of use, you'd want your mainboard firmware to support it. In that case, the system can handle pre-boot authentication automatically, so daily usage is seamless.
For security, you'd rely on the PBA par
Oh come on (Score:5, Funny)
How could you NOT have a tier labeled "Optimus Prime"?
Re: (Score:2)
I dunno, seems fitting. Perhaps they'll find a place in slow, shitty, mostly-remote-operated robots?
counterfeiters ruined SanDisk for me (Score:3)
I purchased a counterfeit SanDisk product at a retailer. It came in sealed retail packaging with seemingly everything correct, at a retail price. It failed on me quickly. SanDisk informed me that I had a counterfeit product, that was missing some hot-stamps from manufacturing. I had to threaten to sue the retailer to get a refund. After that I decided that I would never buy a SanDisk product again. Not SanDisk's fault but I can't trust what I'm getting.
Good luck with those SanDisk products, you never know until you open it up an inspect the chips inside.
Re: (Score:2)
Looks inside the product. If the chips are missing part numbers and have a dragon instead, then you have a bad one.
Lots of questions, no answers. How does that happen? Someone bought the real one a returned a fake one? Supply chain issues? Without being able to answer any questions the only option is to avoid SanDisk. There are good alternatives. I'm not interested in verifying authenticity.
Re: (Score:2)
You don't know if the issue is connected to Sandisk or to your retailer. If you're strict with risk, you should avoid both from now on. On my side I'll consider buying memory products from the official brand website from now on (e.g. sandisk.com and equivalent). It removes a number of possible scenarios.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I don't buy solid state storage from that retailer either, but this article isn't about them.