Andrew Heinzman
Earlier today, the SD Association announced its new SD 8.0 specification for SD Express memory cards. The new specification utilizes PCIe 4.0 and NVMe technology to achieve data transfer rates of nearly 4 GB per second—about four times the speed of today’s SD cards.
Most people won’t notice the transition to SD 8.0. As with previous iterations of the SD Express standard, SD 8.0 memory cards are compatible with older card readers, cameras, and laptops. That said, pairing a new SD 8.0 card with older hardware won’t yield super fast 3,938 MB per second transfer rates.
Videographers, hobbyists, and professionals who desperately need the transfer rates of SD 8.0 should be prepared to wait for a while. Manufacturers aren’t selling SD 8.0 products just yet, and you’ll need an SD 8.0 to USB 3.0 or USB-C dongle to take advantage of the specification’s transfer rates.
Brands like SanDisk, Sony, and Samsung will probably implement the new SD 8.0 standard within the next year. We’ll be sure to report on the first SD 8.0 products that hit shelves.
Source: The SD Association via Business Wire
