Intel and Micron have designed a new class of memory chip that could radically improve the performance of smartphones, desktops, laptops, and other computing devices.
Revealed during a press event in San Francisco on Tuesday morning, the technology is called 3D XPoint. According to Intel and Micron, these chips are “non-volatile,” meaning they can store data even without power; they’re up to 1000 faster than NAND flash memory chips used in most mobile devices; and they can store 10 times more data than the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips used in PCs.
Now many smartphones and tablets replace both hard drives and RAM with flash. Intel and Micron’s new technology, 3D XPoint, is a potential alternative to flash as well as DRAM.
3D Point doesn’t match the speed of DRAM chips. But since it is non-volatile, the new chips will have the ability, like NAND flash, to preserve data when the device is powered down.
“One of the most significant hurdles in modern computing is the time it takes the processor to reach data on long-term storage,” Mark Adams, president of Micron, said in a statement. “This new class of non-volatile memory is a revolutionary technology that allows for quick access to enormous data sets and enables entirely new applications.”
Intel sees the chips initially helping speed up big data applications like fraud detection, real-time data analysis and disease tracking. The Xpoints are reportedly already in production, though there’s no timetable for when they’ll reach devices and computer you can buy at the store..
