In a move that is set to disrupt the digital storage market, SanDisk owner Western Digital has announced the world’s first 8TB SD card, alongside the world’s first 4TB microSD card.

For perspective, with a SanDisk 8TB SDUC UHS-I card in a mirrorless camera, you’d be able to shoot approximately 165,000 raw files at 24MP. The card features the Secure Digital Ultra Capacity (SDUC) standard and will support up to 100MBps speeds.

Also, with a SanDisk 4TB microSDUC UHS-I in a Nintendo Switch, you could store a library of more than 660 games with a 12GB file size.

With 8K video and high-res stills, storage capacity is crucial to ensure seamless workflow. High-capacity memory cards allow you to shoot for longer before having to switch cards. With an 8TB SD card, you could possibly use a single card for an entire shoot.

A 4TB microSD card meanwhile would be a great addition for drones, most of which use microSD storage. They would also find a prime place with smartphones and handheld gaming devices, including the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.

Western Digital office in Milpitas (Image: Sourced from Wikipedia)

Western Digital office in Milpitas (Image: Sourced from Wikipedia)

One potential drawback of these cards is its transfer speeds. Both new memory cards are UHS-I, whereas the faster SD and microSD cards are rated at UHS-II.

Western Digital also hasn’t shared the V classification for either card. Its existing SanDisk 1.5TB Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card has a V10 speed rating, meaning minimum transfer speeds of just 10MB/s.

The SanDisk 4TB Extreme Pro SDUC announced in April is better with a V30 rating, which means a minimum of 30MB/s transfers.

While the latest 8TB SD card and 4TB microSD card were announced at the Future of Memory and Storage Conference in California, the dates of when these will be available globally including Australia or even its price has not yet been confirmed. Don’t expect them to come cheap, a SanDisk 1TB Extreme Pro card costs around A$243.

Earlier this year, Western Digital already announced a 4TB SD card and a 2TB microSD card. As ChannelNews reported, Samsung also recently released 1TB high-capacity microSD cards PRO Plus and EVO Plus, which it says are a response to “demand for storing large amounts of high-quality data in a reliable and secure way”.