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2026: Samsung's New SSD Costs More, Delivers Less
15 Jul
Summary
- New Samsung 990 SSD is slower than the 2022 Pro model.
- 1TB 990 SSD costs $270, 2TB is priced at $530 in 2026.
- Component costs and AI demands are driving price hikes.
In 2026, Samsung has launched a new non-Pro 990 Solid State Drive, a move that sees a significant price increase and a decrease in performance compared to the 990 Pro model released in 2022. The new 1TB drive is priced at $270, with the 2TB model costing a staggering $530. This contrasts sharply with the 2022 990 Pro, which offered 1TB for $179 and 2TB for $309.
Performance metrics for the 2026 990 SSD show sequential read/write speeds of 7,250 MB/s and 6,450 MB/s, respectively, and random read/write speeds of 850K and 1,200K IOPS. These figures are lower than the 2022 990 Pro's speeds of up to 7,450 MB/s read and 6,900 MB/s write, and random speeds of 1,400K and 1,550K IOPS.
The 990 Pro models have also not been spared from price inflation; the 1TB now costs $320, and the 2TB has exceeded double its initial price at $640. These escalating costs are largely driven by the AI industry's insatiable demand for storage and RAM, suggesting that consumers should anticipate more such price hikes.
