In October 2023 I wrote an article right here with the headline: Lifeless and buried already? The newest SD card customary is quick however flawed. This was in reference to a then-new replace to the little-known SD Specific reminiscence card format, which claimed microSD Specific model 9.1 playing cards might be able to a powerful 1969MB/s most switch velocity. All properly and good, however with no gadgets that really supported SD Specific playing cards on the time, and with an equal scarcity of the playing cards themselves, there appeared little sensible level to the brand new format, no matter its marketed excessive velocity.
And for the previous 18 months that information story has remained legitimate: SD Specific playing cards nonetheless have not materialised, and consequently there are nonetheless no mainstream gadgets that assist the format.
Nonetheless, a couple of days in the past information got here that, lastly, a tool is ready to launch that can use microSD Specific playing cards: the Nintendo Swap 2.
On the one hand this makes some sense. The unique Swap has a typical microSD slot to increase its on-board inside storage, so sustaining this for the second-generation console is a no brainer. And by utilizing the most recent model of the microSD format for the Swap 2 means homeowners of an unique Swap would be capable of re-use their current microSD playing cards.
Besides they will not be capable of. Nintendo has revealed that, though microSD and microSD Specific playing cards are dimensionally similar and the brand new format is backward-compatible with the outdated (albeit with some velocity limitations), Nintendo has designed the Swap 2 so it will not supply any backward-compatibility with common microSD playing cards. You will solely be capable of use the brand new (and significantly dearer) Specific playing cards within the Swap 2.
The rationale for that is doubtless to make sure slower, common microSD playing cards do not find yourself bottlenecking the Swap 2’s loading instances. microSD Specific playing cards ought to have a minimal learn/write efficiency of no less than 150MB/s, with the quickest playing cards doubtlessly being able to that 1969MB/s switch velocity talked about earlier. However by ditching compatibility with present microSD playing cards, Nintendo might as properly have simply switched (unintentional pun) to a unique type of reminiscence card altogether, and a better-established one at that.
No less than the pricing of the upcoming microSD Specific playing cards appears beneficial, with Lexar‘s new PLAY PRO microSDXC Specific Playing cards priced at $100 for the 512GB capability, and $200 for a 1TB card. That’s significantly greater than common microSD playing cards of an equal capability, but it surely’s nonetheless lower than CFexpress Sort A – a card format that may have additionally made sensor for the Swap 2, due to its excessive velocity and compact card measurement.
So with a serious model lastly investing in SD Specific, might this be the beginning of a long-overdue SD Specific revolution? Name me cynical, however I doubt it. CFexpress is now properly established within the digital camera sector, eliminating any want for full-size SD Specific playing cards. A couple of years in the past there might have been a case for microSD Specific playing cards getting used for expandable storage in digital camera telephones, however now just about each high-end telephone has deleted the microSD slot, there appears little cause for low- and mid-level telephones to assist what’s nonetheless a distinct segment reminiscence format. This nonetheless leaves room for different gadgets – notably drones – to doubtlessly undertake microSD Specific. I would not rule this out, as producers of microSD Specific playing cards will now be preventing laborious for the format to be supported by a wider vary of gadgets, to ensure that their funding to not be reliant on only a single appropriate product.