Over the course of 2016, Samsung moved the 850s from their second-generation 32-layer 3D NAND to their third generation 48L 3D NAND. In mid 2015, Samsung introduced 2TB models to both SATA families, and updated the controllers to support LPDDR3 DRAM instead of the LPDDR2 initially used by the 850s. In addition to extending their dominance into the NVMe SSD market, Samsung has quietly updated the 850 PRO and 850 EVO without introducing new naming. With 64-layer 3D NAND and more mature SSD controllers, these competitors have finally started to challenge the performance of the Samsung 850 PRO-usually while beating it on price. In 2017, Toshiba and Western Digital/SanDisk finally produced 3D NAND suitable for the mass market, and the second-generation 3D NAND from Intel/Micron debuted. In 2016, Intel and Micron brought the second 3D NAND implementation to market, but their 32-layer 3D floating gate NAND flash proved to be slower (though cheaper) than Samsung's. At first, the switch to TLC was a race to the bottom that left the 850 PRO almost completely unchallenged. The mainstream SSD market has shifted to using TLC NAND instead of MLC NAND, first in the SATA segment and now even most NVMe SSDs are adopting TLC. All the attention for premium SSDs is now focused on the NVMe market where significant performance differentiation is possible. The SSD market now is very different from when the 850 PRO launched in mid-2014. The combination of Samsung's MLC 3D NAND and their top-notch SSD controller gave the 850 PRO performance and write endurance that were nearly unbeatable. Since then, it has reigned as the top SATA SSD. The Samsung SSD 850 PRO introduced 3D NAND flash memory to the consumer SSD market over three years ago. For the SATA SSD market then, the 860 PRO stands to be the latest, greatest, fastest, and possibly last(est) high-end desktop MLC SATA SSD that we'll ever see. Accordingly, the latest PRO SSD from Samsung isn't meant to be a game-changer like its predecessor, but rather is a natural evolution of Samsung's SATA SSDs – at least as much as SATA SSDs can evolve. The 860 PRO uses the latest 64L 3D MLC NAND and LPDDR4 DRAM from Samsung plus a new revision to their highly successful SATA SSD controller series. The Samsung 860 PRO is an update to the venerable 850 PRO SATA SSD, and comes at a time where Samsung faces more serious competition than they have in several years, but also when the market has almost entirely moved on from premium SATA SSDs. Kicking off a busy day in the SSD industry, today we're looking at the launch of Samsung's new 860 PRO SSD.
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