Micron Unveils Its Smallest UFS 4.0 Storage Chip At MWC

(RTTNews) - At the 2024 Mobile World Congress, Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) unveiled an upgraded version of its Universal Flash Storage or UFS 4.0 mobile solution, which is the company's smallest storage chip design to date.

This new release boasts exclusive firmware features in the world's most compact UFS package, measuring 9x13 millimeters (mm), and offers storage capacities of up to 1 terabyte (TB), delivering top-tier performance and innovation for enhanced speed and responsiveness on high-end smartphones.

Despite its reduced size, the chip maintains impressive sequential read and write performance. Developed in collaboration with leading smartphone manufacturers in the U.S., China, and Korea, the compact UFS 4.0 package is underpinned by Micron's advanced 232-layer 3D NAND technology.

The company stated that the decision to shrink the chip size was based on feedback from various smartphone makers, highlighting the benefits of a smaller form factor in accommodating larger batteries.

Alongside its compact dimensions, Micron's UFS 4.0 storage chip also offers power efficiency, with the company noting that the reduced footprint can yield up to 25% more efficiency.

Featuring proprietary firmware functionalities like High-Performance Mode (HPM), One Button Refresh (OBR), and Zoned UFS (ZUFS), Micron's UFS 4.0 chip enhances performance and longevity.

HPM optimizes smartphone performance during intensive usage, resulting in a reported speed improvement of over 25% when launching multiple applications.

OBR automatically cleans and optimizes data to maintain peak performance, enabling faster app launches and seamless multitasking.

ZUFS allows the host to define specific data storage zones, potentially enhancing device usability, minimizing write amplification, and extending the smartphone's lifespan.

Micron has announced that its latest UFS 4.0 storage chip will be offered in capacities of 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.