- Micron 3610 NVMe SSD offers the world’s only 4TB capacity in a single-sided M.2 2230
- Random read and write performance scales proportionally with the drive’s capacity
- Endurance increases with size
At CES 2026, Micron unveiled the 3610 PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD, a QLC-based drive designed for mainstream OEM PCs and notebooks.
This launch follows Micron's December 2025 decision to discontinue its Crucial consumer-SSD brand, shifting focus to enterprise and AI markets.
Micron claims that this is the world’s first Gen5 G9 QLC client SSD, supporting PCIe Gen5 and NVMe 2.0 across multiple M.2 form factors.
Read and Write Speed Upgrade
This device features a compact single-sided 2230 form factor with storage capacities of 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB, making it suitable for a variety of ultra-thin laptops.
Micron reports that sequential read speeds improve by up to 57%, while sequential writes increase by 45% compared to Gen4 QLC drives.
The Micron 3610 NVMe SSD achieves sequential read speeds of up to 11,000 MB/s, with write speeds varying by storage capacity.
The 1TB model reaches write speeds of 7,200 MB/s, while the 2TB and 4TB versions achieve around 9,300 MB/s.
Random read and write performance also scales with capacity, hitting 850 KIOPS read and 1,500 KIOPS write at 1TB, and up to 1,500 KIOPS read and 1,600 KIOPS write on larger models.
Typical read latency is 50ms, while write latency is 12ms, enhancing multitasking, media workflows, and application launches.
This performance level, combined with AI-ready speed, allows multi-billion-parameter AI models to load in under three seconds.
The 3610’s endurance scales with capacity, with the 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB models rated at 400 TBW, 800 TBW, and 1,600 TBW, respectively, all sharing a mean time to failure of two million hours.
The drive features Micron G9 QLC NAND and supports hardware AES 256-bit encryption.
It also includes power-loss protection, host-controlled thermal management, block sanitization, crypto erase, and compliance with TCG Opal 2.02 and Pyrite 2.01 standards.
With Micron’s AWT technology, the device maintains consistent performance during extended workloads.
Benchmark results for the Micron 3610 NVMe SSD have been promising, with PCMark 10 scores increasing by up to 30% and 3DMark results rising by approximately 20%.
Performance per watt reportedly improves by 10% compared to Gen4 QLC and 43% versus Gen4 TLC, achieved without additional power draw, indicating potential for enhanced system responsiveness in mainstream computing tasks.
However, the 3610’s reliance on QLC NAND and a DRAM-less architecture may limit sustained performance under heavy workloads, making alternative Gen5 TLC drives more suitable for users needing consistent high performance during prolonged operations.
Mark Montierth, senior vice president and general manager of Micron's Mobile and Client Business Unit, stated, "The 3610 SSD combines cutting-edge PCIe Gen 5 technology, Micron's most-advanced G9 QLC NAND, and a sleek, single-sided design to deliver premium performance, capacity, and power efficiency." He added, "The 3610 will enable ultra-thin devices that meet the growing demands of on-device AI, immersive streaming, and performance-intensive workloads."
