Samsung Begins Mass Production of PCIe SSDs for Ultra Slim Notebooks
The XP941 family of PCIe SSDs consists of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities and offers sequential reads of 1400MBps over a PCIe 2.0 interface. The drives will feature the 10nm-class (between 10nm and 20nm) technology and the M.2 form factor, which is 80mm x 22mm and weighing in at 6 grams.
Obviously, the XP941 SSDs are much faster and also much smaller than current 2.5-inch SSDs, which are bottlenecked performance-wise by interfaced such as SATA 6Gbps. Samsung says that the XP941 PCIe SSDs are about seven times faster than a traditional HDD and 2.5 times that of a typical SSD.
Ostensibly, the extra legroom afforded by the smaller drive should free up space inside a notebook for a larger battery with more longevity--or perhaps PC makers will simply opt to build slimmer and smaller machines.