- Seagate is already testing its 40TB HAMR drives, while Toshiba eyes a 2027 launch
- Toshiba drives use 12-disk stacking technology and microwave-assisted magnetic recording
- Seagate plans 44TB models as Toshiba’s 40TB models arrive
In May 2025, we reported that Seagate had shipped limited units of its 40TB hard drives built on its Mozaic HAMR platform. These drives used heat-assisted magnetic recording to store 4 TB per platter across ten platters, setting a new benchmark at the time for mechanical storage density.
Full-scale production is expected to begin in the first half of 2026, following extensive customer testing.
At Seagate’s recent Investor and Analyst Conference, the company’s CEO, Dr. Dave Mosley, explained that the ten-drive configuration provides greater efficiency at the data center fleet level, while also serving as the basis of the company’s roadmap.
A dozen trays
Seagate then said it planned to move beyond 40TB in the coming years, with 44TB models planned for 2027 and 50TB drives by 2028.
Fast forward to now, and Toshiba announced that it has verified 12-drive stacking technology for hard drives, a first for the storage industry.
Its design combines the company’s mechanical engineering experience with microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) to achieve capacities of 40TB in a 3.5-inch form factor. Toshiba plans to launch these drives in 2027.
The new design adds two drives to the ten-drive Nearline format and also replaces aluminum substrates with glass, resulting in thinner platters, greater precision and greater durability.
This would increase storage density without sacrificing stability or reliability.
Toshiba engineers are also studying how this 12-drive configuration might work with HAMR, suggesting a hybrid direction for future products.
The company says that ultimately its goal is to provide data centers with greater capacities while maintaining a lower total cost of ownership as the demand for data continues to grow.
Yet by the time Toshiba’s drives hit the market, if Seagate’s roadmap comes to fruition, the competition could already be well over 40TB, leaving Toshiba to catch up.
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