Coming in 2014: MacBooks as fast as data center servers
Solid-state drives (SSDs) will undergo a major change next year: the predominant interface will begin moving from SATA III to PCIe Generation 2.0 in data centers and higher-end laptops.
According to a new research report from Trendforce's research division, DRAMeXchange, this year's Macbook Air and MacBook Pro laptops already come equipped with PCIe G2 SSDs, which have two I/O lanes (known as PCIe G2x2). Next year, "it is highly likely" that Apple will upgrade to PCIe G2x4, offering four I/O lanes and up to 2GBs throughput. Other PC brands are likely to follow Apple's lead, according to DRAMeXchange's senior manager Alan Chen.
"In 2014, both Microsoft's Windows 8.1 and Intel's Broadwell CPU are expected to provide in-box drivers that are compatible with PCIe G2 SSDs," Chen said in a statement. "In addition to bolstering the existing faith in the technology, the Wintel group's aforementioned decision will help lower the threshold for many of the SSD controller chip manufacturers that are hoping to use the PCIe G2 format."
