Micron Technology, Inc. today  announced a new personal storage class, solid state drive (SSD), continuing a  legacy of developing foundational memory technology into reliable,  high-performance storage solutions. The M550 SSD is designed to meet the  increasingly demanding needs of high-performance computing, ultrathin, and media/video  applications. It is available today to consumers,  businesses and system builders under the Crucial® brand and to OEM  customers under the Micron® brand.

Faster Storage Performance
The M550 SSD offers 20 times higher performance1 than a traditional  hard drive, while consuming significantly less power. It enables quick  boot-up, speedy file and program access,  near instant wake from sleep, as well as ultra-efficient power management for increased battery life. In fact,  the M550 draws as little as 0.15 watts during normal operation¹.

The M550 design tightly  integrates Micron NAND and firmware to deliver up to 95,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS). The drive's sequential  speeds reach up to 550 MB/s for reads and 500 MB/s writes, which maxes out the capabilities  of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface.³   To understand the benefits of  upgrading to an SSD and see the dramatic performance gains compared to  traditional hard drives, watch our video.

Advanced Feature Set
  The M550 SSD incorporates a host of advanced features to provide  users with a powerful computing  experience:

• Best-in-Class  Hardware Encryption: Keeps personal files and sensitive information secure  in the event of device theft or loss.
• Device Sleep  Low-Power Mode: Enables the drive  to draw practically no power while in sleep mode and respond instantly when the  laptop is opened.
• Data  Protection: Employs onboard power-loss protection and advanced error  recovery techniques to protect the integrity of stored data.
• Adaptive  Thermal Management: Dynamically adjusts power consumption based on system  temperature for ultra-small, thermally constrained systems.
• Reliability: Our proprietary RAIN technology provides built-in  fail-over protection at the NAND level.

Micron Quality You Can Trust
  The M550 SSD is built  start-to-finish by Micron, providing the comprehensive quality control that  only a NAND Flash memory manufacturer can supply. With more than 35 years of  technology leadership, Micron is one of the world's largest and most trusted Flash storage manufacturers. The new drive utilizes Micron's proven 20-nanometer (nm)  multilevel cell (MLC) NAND Flash to achieve terabyte capacity on the 2.5-inch  form factor. Watch this  behind-the-scenes video to see how Micron designs and builds SSDs.

"Built on our years of storage expertise, the M550 SSD combines leading-edge performance with an advanced feature set to create a powerful computing experience," said Darren Thomas, vice president of Micron's storage business unit. "For consumers, the Crucial M550 SSD offers a reliable storage solution from a trustworthy brand. For OEM customers, the Micron M550 SSD offers a slim, lightweight form factor for ultrathin designs, and advanced features for media and video applications."

Micron's advanced NAND Flash  technology provides more storage in a smaller footprint, making it possible to  pack half a terabyte of storage onto an SSD module the size of a stick of gum (80mm  x 22mm). This M.2 form factor, along with the mSATA form factor, are key  designs for current and next-generation ultrathin computers, including  Ultrabook™ devices, tablets and convertible PCs. Visit micron.com/ultrathin to see how Micron SSDs transform the ultrathin experience to meet the needs of  the mobile computing market.

High-Performance  Storage for Video Applications
  The M550 has also been chosen as the preferred storage  solution for AJA, a leading manufacturer of  high-quality digital video interface, conversion and desktop solutions for  professional broadcast and post-production. "Our customers demand high  reliability for capturing the very high data rates of HD and 4k video. Whether  it's a motion picture or a Major League Baseball broadcast, data degradation is  unacceptable," said John Abt, CEO of AJA. "The Micron M550 easily meets AJA's  performance requirements."

The M550 also leverages controller technology from the  industry leaders at Marvell. "Marvell is excited to collaborate with Micron to  bring a new generation of cutting-edge SSDs to the video market," said Rajan  Pai, General Manager and Vice President of the Data Storage Business Unit at  Marvell. "The combination of Micron's leadership in NAND flash memory coupled  with Marvell's industry-leading 88SS9189 SSD controller creates a powerful  solution that fuels exceptional delivery of digital entertainment and video  content to meet the next wave of consumer demand."

Compatibility and Availability
The Crucial M550 2.5-inch  SSD is offered in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities, and it is available  for immediate purchase through select global channel partners or direct through www.crucial.com. The smaller M.2 and mSATA  form factors will be available through Crucial later this year, in capacities  up to 512GB. The drive is backed by a three-year limited warranty⁴ and is compatible with both PC and Mac® systems.

The Micron M550 SSD is also available in a 64GB capacity;  all configurations are available for immediate sampling and are sold direct to  OEMs and via the company's distribution  network.