Western Digital is expanding its lineup of portable hard drives, high-capacity storage and more today ahead of IFA 2019. Headlined by the brand’s thinnest 5TB drive, we’re getting a refreshed WD My Passport for Mac alongside a new 20TB internal HDD. Plus, over on the SanDisk front, we’re seeing new Lightning flash drives and more. Head below for a look at all of the announcements.
Today’s news from Western Digital follows its recent announcement of a 12TB Game Drive for Xbox One and more. We just took a hands-on look at one of the company’s latest, the Black P10 for Xbox One as well. So this pre-IFA announcement just piles on the new releases. Shifting from that gaming focus, we’re getting a look at WD’s upcoming hard drives for Mac and more.
WD’s new My Passport for Mac steals the show
First up, WD has notably redesigned its My Passport lineup of portable hard drives. Available in both PC and Mac-centric variants, the new versions will now be available in up to 5TB configurations. There are a few color options to choose from across the different versions, including black, blue and red. The My Passport for Mac version will alternatively come in an exclusive Midnight Blue colorway.
That’s not all that changes between the standard and Mac versions of this hard drive. While you’ll find USB 3.0 connectivity on the former, the Apple-specific model fittingly rocks USB-C instead. Western Digital is also claiming that its My Passport is the thinnest 5TB drive currently available from the company. Prices start at $79.99 here, and you can currently pick it up direct from Western Digital.
Western Digital is also sending some love towards higher-capacity options, with two fresh massive internal hard drives. The company’s new 18TB CMR Ultrastar drive is joined by a 20TB Ultrastar SMR HDD; both of which are geared towards application in servers. Due out in 2020, pricing information on either of the models is still unavailable as of now.
Over on the SanDisk side of Western Digital’s lineup, we’re also getting some new releases. The brand has debuted two entries into its iXpand series, helmed by a Qi charger. Sporting a two-in-one design, the iXpand Wireless Charger can refuel power and backup content without getting any cables involved. An official launch date has yet to be specified, but WD notes it’ll be arriving later this year.
For adding some extra storage on-the-go, WD is updating its iXpand Flash Drive. This new model delivers a refreshed design alongside USB 3.0 and Lightning connectivity. SanDisk’s iXpand Flash Drive Go is now officially available, with the 128GB model at $69.99 and the 256GB variant at $89.99.
9to5Toys’ Take
Western Digital is one of our favorite hard drive and storage makers. With no issues standing out from competitors in the past, today’s releases double down with plenty of reasons to gravitate towards the WD lineup. It’ll be hard to compete with the popularity of the refreshed My Passport lineup, especially the 5TB version. I’ll personally be excited to see how the emergence of 18 and 20TB drives affects the pricing of lower-capacity models in the future.
Source: Western Digital
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