Why it matters: Events like CES give Sandisk an opportunity to showcase advancements in storage technology, hinting at what's to come for consumers. This year, the company showed off the world's biggest portable SSD, an 8TB prototype, along with a tiny 1TB flash drive, the latter of which will be sold later in 2020.
The 8TB external SSD prototype from Sandisk can fit into most pockets like other portable SSDs, but it won't be here anytime soon since the company has no plans to sell it yet.
Apart from its 20 Gbps transfer speeds over the SuperSpeed USB protocol, not much else was revealed about the drive. Much like the company's 4TB flash drive shown off at CES last year, Sandisk likes to experiment with larger capacity drives, potentially making way for smaller ones in the process.
The company's second major announcement is the 1TB Sandisk Ultra Dual Drive Luxe USB-C drive, which it does plan to sell. Originally revealed at CES 2018, the tiny drive is designed to fit into a keychain and also comes with a USB-A port for added convenience.
The dual connector drive will be available in late Q1 2020 and reportedly cost $250.