I held 400GB on the tip of my finger and felt like god

It's mind-blowing.
 By 
Raymond Wong
 on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

An ungodly number of tech gadgets -- monster PCs with 18-core processors, a gazillion VR headsets, and more -- will be announced at IFA in Berlin this week. But none will match the sheer awesomeness of SanDisk's 400GB microSD card. None. Period.

Yes, it's a memory card. And yes, storage isn't sexy. But dammit, it's a fingernail-sized memory card with 400 friggin' gigabytes of storage. That's three times the amount of storage that comes with an entry-level MacBook Pro. If your head isn't exploding thinking about how much stuff you can store in something this small, it should be.

It's truly mesmerizing how SanDisk was able to cram so much storage into such a small card. I'm sure the breakthrough nanotechnology that made it possible is amazing and all, but I'm more fascinated with just how much it can store.

I broke out my scientific calculator (OK, it was my iPhone) and crunched a couple of things to see how much 400GB would hold:

  • About 400,000 e-books (at an average size of 1MB per e-book)

  • About 200,000 photos (12-megapixel iPhone 7 photos at an average size of 2MB)

  • About 100,000 iTunes songs (at an average size of 4MB for an average 4-minute tune)

  • About 88 Full HD movies from iTunes (at an average of 4.5GB per movie)

  • About 16 Blu-Rays (at an average size of 25GB)

That doesn't seem like a lot at first, but it is compared to a commonly used 32GB memory card, which can only hold 16,000 photos and 8,000 songs and 7 Full HD iTunes movies.

The previous world's largest microSD card maxed out at 256GB of storage, or about half the amount as this new record-breaking microSD card. It's a gigantic leap in technology, especially when you consider the last storage record was set only two years ago.

The TLDR is simple: You can store a shitload of stuff on this card. More than you'll probably ever need. This thing can hold a gazillion hours of 4K video. And it paves the way for even higher resolution 8K videos to be carried around with ease.

I mean, I was excited when I heard the announcement, but I didn't realize I tweeted about it three times until someone pointed it out to me:

I'm aware the 400GB microSD card costs $250, but it's still a damn steal compared to the $400 SanDisk asked for a 200GB microSD card in 2015. I want this thing so freaking bad. Now all I need is a good reason to take 200,000 photos to fill it up.

Topics Gadgets

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Raymond Wong

Raymond Wong is Mashable's Senior Tech Correspondent. He reviews gadgets and tech toys and analyzes the tech industry. Raymond's also a bit of a camera geek, gamer, and fine chocolate lover. Before arriving at Mashable, he was the Deputy Editor of NBC Universal's tech publication DVICE. His writing has appeared on G4TV, BGR, Yahoo and Ubergizmo, to name a few. You can follow Raymond on Twitter @raywongy or Instagram @sourlemons.

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