Western Digital announces My Passport external SSD with USB-C connection, capacities up to 1TB

If you’re looking for an external SSD for use with your Chromebook or other laptop or desktop, Western Digital’s My Passport SSD looks like it could be ideal for the job. With a USB-C connection as standard (and a USB-A adapter in the box), it will be available in a choice of three capacities …

The starting point is 256GB for $100, moving up to $200 for 512GB and $400 for the top-tier 1TB model.

External SSD prices have fallen significantly in recent months, Western Digital’s pricing putting it roughly on a par with current pricing for Samsung’s T3 range. The T3 does, however, offer one extra storage tier: 2TB for $790.

Maximum speed of the Western Digital drive is also very similar to the T3, at 515MB/s. This isn’t the fastest SSD storage in the world, but is perfectly respectable and pretty standard for a consumer drive at this kind of price level.

The company says that the drive is protected from both physical and digital threats, being designed to withstand a drop of up to 6.5 feet and having built-in 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption.

Availability hasn’t yet been announced, but is likely to be out soon. You can register on Western Digital’s website to be notified once it goes on sale.

Via Engadget