But don't expect to be able to buy them any time soon
(Image credit: Future, SanDisk, www.vecteezy.com)
SanDisk has produced the first-ever 8 terabyte SD card and the world's first 4TB MicroSD card. SanDisk's parent company, Western Digital, hasn't released much detail about the two cards in its press release –only that the 8TB SD offering will be a UHS-I card, so it won't be breaking any speed records. There's no indication about pricing or availability.
SDUC memory cards must only be used with SDUC Host Devices (Image credit: SD Association)
The card will however receive an SDUC designation. This is a new SD class exclusively for cards over 2TB in capacity. Sounds impressive, but the reality could be more inconvenient. SDUC cards can only be used in devices that specifically support SDUC memory cards, so you won't be able to stick an SDUC card into any old camera with an SD slot.
But that's assuming you'll be able to get your hands on an SDUC card in the first place. It's currently almost impossible to find even 2TB SDXC cards, and it was only in April this year that SanDisk announced it was working on 4TB SD cards, which it suggested may hit shelves some time in 2025. Considering this, an 8TB SD card could well be several years from being widely available.
CFexpress Type B cards: a more suitable memory format for an 8TB capacity (Image credit: James Artaius)
Then there's the issue of whether anyone actually needs such a high data capacity on a single SD card. SD is no longer the format of choice for high-performance cameras, as CFexpress has now far surpassed it for read and write speed. SanDisk's 8TB SD card being UHS-I further impedes its real-world utility, rendering it only practical for mid-range cameras topping out at high bit rate 1080p video, which itself doesn't demand a card as big as 8 terabytes.
SanDisk's 4TB microSD card would be a more compelling proposition, as high-capacity microSD cards are still unrivalled in many use cases - the best camera phones, action cameras, gaming devices and drones.
Again, SanDisk's 4TB offering is a UHS-I card, which isn't ideal for speed-intensive applications, but it's less of a deal-breaker than in the full-size SD segment.
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Ben is the Imaging Labs manager, responsible for all the testing on Digital Camera World and across the entire photography portfolio at Future. Whether he's in the lab testing the sharpness of new lenses, the resolution of the latest image sensors, the zoom range of monster bridge cameras or even the latest camera phones, Ben is our go-to guy for technical insight. He's also the team's man-at-arms when it comes to camera bags, filters, memory cards, and all manner of camera accessories – his lab is a bit like the Batcave of photography! With years of experience trialling and testing kit, he's a human encyclopedia of benchmarks when it comes to recommending the best buys.
