SD card storage has drastically expanded from the 32 megabytes of 1999 to today’s 1.5 terabytes. While technology may further increase this to a theoretical 128 terabytes, economic and practical constraints make this unlikely soon. Meanwhile, shifts to integrated and cloud storage solutions, alongside new physical formats like XQD and CFexpress cards, could represent the future of data storage.
In Johnny Mnemonic the eponymous cyberpunk courier has difficulty fitting 320GB of data in his head in the “future” of 2021. My Nintendo Switch has a tiny 512GB microSD card in it. But how big can we go?
What’s the Largest SD Card Sizes You Can Buy?
As of June 2023, the largest widely commercially available microSD cards tip the scales at a whopping one terabyte. This is an enormous leap from just a few years ago when 512 GB SD cards were considered groundbreaking.
It’s interesting to look at how rapidly this technology has expanded since the first SD card was introduced in 1999. Back then, the first version had a lean 32 megabytes of storage. Now we’re storing thousands of times more data in a similar-sized package.
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The SDXC (SD Extended Capacity) specification technically supports up to a maximum capacity of 2 TB. However, as of this writing, there are no 2TB cards for sale.
In June of 2022, Micron announced a 1.5TB microSD card which became available through wholesalers early in 2023. Late in 2022, Koxia announced a prototype of a 2TB microSD card
However, larger isn’t always better. These high-capacity cards come with a hefty price tag, making them less accessible for the average consumer. That 1.5TB Micron card is priced well above the $400 mark!
The Theoretical Size Limit of SD Cards
SD cards come in three main types: SD (up to 2GB), SDHC (up to 32GB), and SDXC (up to 2TB). But what about beyond that? Is there a theoretical size limit to how much information these compact storage solutions can hold?
The SDUC (SD Ultra Capacity) specification, expands the potential maximum SD and microSD card capacity to an astonishing 128 TB. The SDUC uses the same physical form factor as earlier SD cards but employs a different file system (exFAT) and different data bus interfaces to handle this higher level of storage.
However, as of 2023, there are no commercial SDUC cards available. It’s a challenge to cram so much storage into such a small form factor. In addition to technical issues, there are also economic considerations. With the high cost of manufacturing such dense storage devices and the relatively low demand for such high-capacity cards from consumers, it’s unclear when or if we’ll see SDUC cards hit the market.
What Comes After SD Cards?
As we marvel at SD card technology’s impressive strides, it’s also worth looking to the future. What technological marvels could surpass these ubiquitous little storage devices? Well, even as you read this, the successors to the SD card are shaping up in some intriguing ways.
The first transition we’re seeing is the shift towards integrated storage—memory that’s soldered directly onto the device’s circuit board. This trend has become quite evident in the realm of smartphones and tablets, where SD card slots are beginning to feel like relics of a bygone era. My current iPhone packs a terabyte of storage, so I haven’t felt the pinch for storage as I had in the days of 128GB or 256GB phones.
But perhaps the more profound shift is the move towards cloud storage and streaming services. As internet speeds ramp up worldwide, the dependence on local storage has been lessening. With services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Apple’s iCloud, a world where storage is predominantly in the cloud seems less and less far-fetched.
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However, this doesn’t mean the physical format is going extinct. New successors to the SD card throne are already making their presence felt. A prime example is the XQD card, used in professional-grade cameras, and the CFexpress card. These high-speed, high-capacity cards are tailor-made for high-definition video recording and rapid-fire photography.
And in the farther future, we’re looking at the fascinating promise of DNA storage. This technology encodes data into synthetic DNA, offering a potential storage solution that could dwarf current capacities. While this may sound like science fiction, research into DNA storage is ongoing, although commercial viability is still some years away.
So, for now, we won’t be able to recommend you any exotic SD cards with hundreds of terabytes of storage. But we do have some excellent top-tier SD card and microSD card picks for you to browse.
