Western Digital releases update for SanDisk Extreme Pro SSDs
Western Digital, SanDisk’s parent firm, has discreetly revealed that their wildly popular SanDisk Extreme Pro portable solid-state drives (SSDs) were faulty, and has released a firmware update.
The acknowledgement comes as it intends to release a software upgrade designed to prevent the 4TB model from erasing customers’ data on its own. However, no mention of a repair for the 2TB model is made, raising questions about the scope of the problem. This upgrade, however, will not be accessible to all Extreme and Extreme Pro V2 portable SSD users.
In recent months, the SanDisk Extreme and Extreme Pro V2 portable SSDs have been beset by issues, with multiple stories appearing regarding unexpected data loss and disk inaccessibility. Despite these persistent concerns, Western Digital has continued to offer these drives at a substantial discount, underplaying the gravity of the situation.
Western Digital plans to provide a firmware upgrade shortly for two models: the SDSSDE61-4T00 (4TB SanDisk Extreme) and the SDSSDE81-4T00 (4TB Extreme Pro SSD). Owners of other models, meanwhile, are left wondering whether and when they will receive a comparable software upgrade.
Aside from the 4TB devices, several customers have noticed the same data loss issue with the SanDisk Extreme Pro V2 2TB SSDs. Unfortunately, Western Digital has not stated whether or not these impacted consumers will receive a future firmware upgrade, keeping them in the dark.
While Western Digital has not specified a precise release date for the firmware upgrade aimed at the 4TB devices, consumers are encouraged to be on the lookout. Even if you haven’t had any difficulties yet, installing the update as soon as it’s available is strongly advised. This proactive strategy can provide consumers piece of mind, especially if their job is dependent on the integrity of their SSD.
The sources for this piece include an article in TheVerge.