The SanDisk Extreme Pro has given me a glimpse at what proper USB4 external SSDs like this have in store for us, and it's enough to make me rather excited. Mainstream usable 40 Gbps USB4 drives are finally here, and they're fast. This, too, in the same year that SanDisk has shown us the first mainstream, usable PCIe 5.0 internal SSD with the WD Black SN8100. 2025 really does seem to be a year of transition and evolution for PC storage.
Although I couldn't find an official spec that lists the specific controller inside this SanDisk Extreme Pro external SSD, it must surely be the use of a new controller that allows this drive to finally sustain USB4 speeds, and do so at a decent temperature. The few previous USB4 drives on the market simply weren't capable of this.
