Western Digital announced earlier this week their first My Passport SSD. It will store data via USB-C, and it will bring an adapter for USB-A connections. The external drive will be available in 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB capacities.
The company already offers external SSD storage under its popular SanDisk subsidiary, but this product is the first to launch in the My Passport lineup. It will also feature WD’s new palm-sized, colorful form factor.
Portable SSD storage is becoming more common, with major brands understanding it is time to jump from mechanical hard drives to solid state if they want to offer faster and more reliable options to consumers.
WD’s new SSD will work with USB-C ports
Western Digital adopting USB-C as a connection standard in their new My Passport SSD means not only faster data transference but also compatibility with the latest portable computers in the markets.
Apple’s newest MacBook and several Chromebook models have ditched USB-A for the more convenient USB-C port. WD’s new external drive will be particularly useful for the latter, as the notebooks running Chrome OS often pack reduced storage space.
These products will also be quite convenient for travelers and workers on the go, as they are even smaller than traditional My Passport HDDs. The SSD fits in the palm of your hand at half the size of old drives, and it comes in different color options.
For those with old laptops or desktop computers, there is nothing to worry about. The company includes an USB-A adapter compatible with USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports.
My Passport SSD is sturdy and safe
WD’s solid state drive is special not only for being the company’s first external drive of its kind but also because it is the fastest of the My Passport lineup. At 515 Mb/s, it outperforms Samsung’s SSD T3 regarding reading/writing speeds.
The storage unit is also reliable both physically and digitally. The stick can survive falls up to 6.5 feet and 1500G of force while data remains secure behind a password chosen by the user and 256-bit AES hardware encryption.
It comes preloaded with WD Backup software, which automatically stores data on the drive or in a Dropbox account of your preference. This feature works with Apple Time Machine as well for the MacBook users out there.
Price and models
The 256 GB My Passport SSD starts at $99.99, while the 512 GB and 1 TB models will sell for $199.99 and $399.99 respectively. All three drives come with a three-year warranty and will be available from Best Buy and other retailers this quarter.
Source: Western Digital
