Running out of internal storage is an issue I face regularly with my iPhone, but a new drive from SanDisk can free up data while staying attached to the smartphone using MagSafe. Introduced during CES 2025, the SanDisk Creator Phone SSD is a portable drive that works with smartphones as well as laptops.
Besides freeing up internal storage space, the SanDisk Creator SSD can also record 4K 60fps Apple ProRes video directly to the drive. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro can’t record that high quality footage to its internal storage, requiring portable drives that meet high speed specifications. By meeting those speed requirements and attaching to the back of the phone using MagSafe, the drive could help creators use ProRes without figuring how or where to stick the drive while recording.
The SSD drive will be available in capacities of up to 2TB, with read speeds of up to 1000MB/s and write speeds of up to 950MB/s. While the unique feature is the MagSafe attachment, the USB-C drive is also compatible with laptops and computers as well as the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone16 Pro Max.
Carrying data around increases the risk of loss due to drops and damage, but the SanDisk Creator SSD is built with that in mind. The company says the drive can withstand drops of up to three meters (about 9.8 feet). The drive also has an IP65 rating for water and dust resistance and comes wrapped in a silicon shell.
The drive is part of SanDisk’s Creator Series, a line of products that are geared for content creation. During CES 2025, the company also announced a USB-C flash drive, a drive with both USB-C and Lightning connections, and both a microSD and standard-size UHS-II SD that are part of the Creator series. Those memory cards and the USB-C drive can fit up to 1 TB of data, while the lightning-USB-C drive is available for up to 256GB of storage.
The MagSafe SSD is expected to begin shipping this spring, with a list price of $109.99 for the 1 TB version (which converts to about £89 / AU$178). The new memory cards are available now, while the thumb drives are expected out in February.
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