Rumor has it that Crucial is manufacturing an MX100 SSD, likely using Micron's new 16-nm NAND . The MX100 will fall into the spot of the oft-selected M500 in Crucial's SSD lineup, making it the new budget contender in the entry-level arena; the M550 remains as a mid-range option at slightly faster speeds. The MX100 will continue operating on the SATA interface in a 2.5" form factor.

Crucial is using Micron's new 128Gb (16GB) 16-nm MLC Flash memory; because Micron can fit more chips on a wafer due to the 128Gb capacity and smaller fab process, the die yield per wafer is significantly higher in production. With a higher yield, the Flash manufacturer can increase supply and should theoretically be able to mitigate price further -- hopefully carrying over to device prices in everything that uses the NAND.

We're unsure of what controller the MX100 will be using, but it's likely to have the same eight-channel split that every other modern SSD controller utilizes (eight channels that talk to four dies each - so 32 dies for optimal performance on the controller). It seems plausible to me that 480GB SSDs will continue to proliferate and drop in price as these 16Gb NAND chips are produced; it'd take 32x128Gb dies to build a 480GB SSD (accounting for overprovisioning), which just so happens to be the ideal count of dies for best performance on an eight-channel controller.

The MX100 is due in June.

- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.