SanDisk’s first SD cards up to 8 TB (SDUC) are expected to finally launch, new card readers required

Unlike its spun-off corporate counterpart Western Digital, SanDisk was not present at Computex, but was still in a sense present with a new product. This is because at the SD Association booth, a poster displayed new SD and microSD cards with 4 to 8 TB, which are set to hit the market shortly, as several companies at the booth confirmed to us on-site.

This is not the first announcement. SanDisk already announced an SDUC card back in 2024, which, however, never actually launched. It was originally planned for 2025. According to the current state of information, the 8 TB barrier will now be broken right out of the gate instead. SanDisk is accordingly planning SDUC cards both in its Ultra series and its high-speed Extreme series.

The Ultra series is set to be available as both a microSDUC and a regular SDUC card. The latter will max out at 8 TB. The microSDUC card will presumably hit the market with 4 TB. The Extreme Pro series, on the other hand, is announced with an SDUC card in the 4 TB tier. Compared to the initial announcement, nothing has changed with this card, though a detailed spec sheet is still missing.

SDUC cards strictly require new SD card readers. As things stand, even brand-new SD Express card readers cannot handle SDUC cards. This also applies to SanDisk's Pro Reader, which is currently sold out anyway. This is likely an indicator of new card readers on the horizon. However, that was already known beforehand. The SD standard split in a sense in the past.

UHS-II, SDUC, and SD Express were mutually exclusive. However, it is expected that this year, for the first time, there will be card readers that support all three standards in a single device. Corresponding solutions were on display at Computex. Incidentally, SanDisk reacted only late to several inquiries regarding the new cards, as well as the missing SD Express reader: "At the current time, we cannot make a statement on this," was the general response.

Thus, there is no information on pricing or specific availability. Nevertheless, the release of the cards can be considered a done deal, because several employees from different companies at the SD Association booth confirmed to us that the cards will be coming soon.