Toshiba Ships Thin 256GB Blade X-Gale SSDs

Toshiba's new modules are for manufacturers only, however they should allow for thinner notebooks and tablets with bigger storage capacities.

Sunday Toshiba revealed that its new Blade X-gale ultra-thin series of SSD modules is available for manufacturers, offering maximum sequential read speeds of 220 MB/s and maximum sequential write speeds of 180 MB/s. The company said that the modules are ideal for mobile devices like tablets, laptops, netbooks and more. They were also previously revealed to be used by Apple in the new MacBook Air.

"Delivering a product that enables superior user experience in a smaller footprint is the ultimate goal," noted Scott Nelson, vice president, Memory Business Unit, Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. "The density of MLC NAND enables the creation of smaller form factor high density storage solutions, and Toshiba, as the technology leader for NAND storage solutions, will continue to innovate in this space."

According to the company, the Blade X-gale line will come in three capacities: 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. The first two capacities will have a thickness of only 2.2-mm, 42-percent thinner than the typical mSATA SSD. Toshiba added that its base design technology minimizes board warpage during thinning, allowing for 256 GB capacity by mounting on both sides. The 256 GB module measures slightly bigger than the other two at 3.7-mm.

There's speculation that manufacturers will use Toshiba's new SSDs to create MacBook Air clones running Microsoft's Windows platform. As seen in a recent MacBook Air teardown, the SSD was a major part of the computer's super-slim profile. Consumers will likely see thinner notebooks next year while tablet storage capacities climb into the 256 GB realm.

Toshiba said that it also offers designers a choice of mSATA and Half-Slim SSD modules in capacities up to 128 GB.