The next generation of 3D NAND?with 64 or more layers?has not yet hit the shelves, but its getting closer. Toshiba and Western Digital announced their first mainstream client SSDs with 3D NAND recently at Computex. Micron and SK Hynix shouldnt be too far behind with their new generations of 3D NAND and mainstream SSDs based on them. As these flash manufacturers reach full production capacity of their new 3D NAND, the ongoing NAND shortage should begin to lift and SSD prices will stop climbing. However, none of these new SSDs are in stores yet, so this edition of the guide doesnt bring any major changes.

If you are considering making a significant investment in a large or high-performance SSD, consider waiting until the fall when 64+ layer SSDs start shipping. There will be many more high-capacity options and there will likely be a few new challengers to Samsungs performance lead in the NVMe SSD space.