TL;DR
- Samsung’s UFS 4.0 flash storage will offer twice the performance of 3.1.
- UFS 4.0 will also provide better energy efficiency and smaller sizes.
- Mass production will begin Q3 2022.
Samsung has unveiled the latest version of its UFS flash storage, UFS 4.0, and it promises significant performance gains over 3.1.
In addition to making some of the most popular phones on the market, Samsung is one of the top memory manufacturers for the entire industry. Its UFS 3.1 is already a solid performer, but the company’s next-generation offering promises up to twice the performance.
According to the company, version 4.0 provides speeds up to 23.3Gbps per lane, doubling what UFS 3.1 can deliver. Samsung says its throughput makes UFS 4.0 ideal for 5G smartphones, given the large quantity of data 5G phones can download. The new memory will also help power the data requirements of augmented and virtual reality applications.
Power efficiency is another benefit of the new architecture, with sequential read speeds coming in at 6.0MB/s per milliampere (mA). According to Samsung, this is 46% more efficient than 3.1, which means users will see improved battery life despite the faster performance.
Samsung has managed to pack all of these improvements into an even smaller package. For example, a 512GB UFS 3.1 module measures 11.5 x 13 x 1.0mm. In contrast, the maximum size of a UFS 4.0 module will max out at 11 x 13 x 1mm for 1TB of storage.
Samsung says it will begin mass production in Q3 2022, meaning UFS 4.0 could appear in phones as soon as late 2022 or early 2023.
