Next-gen Galaxy phones

 Next-gen Galaxy phones might come with a faster storage to boost its AI prowess

It's been a couple of years since Samsung Semiconductor announced the UFS 4.0 non-volatile memory for mobile devices. Samsung has since used UFS 4.0 for the Galaxy S23 series, the 2023 foldable phones, and the latest Galaxy S24 lineup. Now, the company is getting ready to advance to the next step. Samsung Semiconductor revealed a roadmap on the social media platform Weixin, confirming its plans for the next generation of UFS (Universal Flash Storage) solutions. By this point, it is more than clear that phone manufacturers will be turning towards the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to push their best phones further into the future. One major requirement for this to happen, though, is to have hardware capable of facilitating AI-powered features.

Now, some of you know this very well, others might think that storage only comes in different sizes. However, there is another side to storage, and that is speed. The latest and greatest in phone storage technology was created by Samsung itself, or Samsung Semiconductor to be more precise, dubbed UFS 4.0. The first and most crucial piece of hardware is, of course, the silicon (chipset) inside the phone. The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 are part of a new generation of processors that are specifically designed with on-device AI in mind. But apart from the chips that enable the magic we see on our phones, there are a few other components affecting the speed at which said magic happens. One such component is the storage. The roadmap states that Samsung intends to release UFS 4.0 4-lane CS next year before jumping to UFS 5.0 in 2027. According to Samsung Semiconductor, UFS 4.0 4-lane will improve speed from around 4GB/s to 8GB/s. Meanwhile, the big UFS 5.0 update to Samsung non-volatile memory, set to be introduced in 2027, could increase speeds above 10GB/s.

UFS stands for Universal Flash Storage, and version 4.0 is about twice as fast in read and write speeds compared to the previous generation, UFS 3.1. Now, Samsung Semiconductor has revealed its plans for the near future on the social media platform Weixin (via SamMobile). Samsung's roadmap to the next Universal Flash Storage (UFS) generations. - The Galaxy S25 might come with a faster storage to boost its AI prowess. Samsung Semiconductor says it plans to start the mass production of UFS 4.0 4-lane solutions before 2025. The company underlined that UFS 4.0 4-lane memory combines two UFS controllers for increased sequential read speed.

The company says these advancements in UFS technology will improve loading times and on-device AI applications. Although Samsung hasn't revealed anything about which Galaxy devices might use UFS 4.0 4-lane first, it could be the Galaxy S25 series. UFS 5.0 could debut alongside the future Galaxy S27 lineup a few years later. As per information available, an upgrade called UFS 4.0 4-lane CS, scheduled to come out sometime in 2025, with production set to start in 2024. Samsung explains that UFS 4.0 4-lane memory combines two UFS controllers for increased sequential read speed, which is probably where the “4-lane” part comes from. This next iteration of UFS 4.0 will be capable of 8GB/s speeds, compared to the 4GB/s of the current UFS 4.0 storage. Samsung states that this upgrade will help with loading times and on-device AI applications, which is where the whole AI push ties in nicely.

Samsung already plans more AI-based features for next-gen devices, with some AI tools possibly being offered through a paid model. Whether that will pan out remains to be determined, but either way, these AI advancements work hand-in-hand with faster mobile memory technologies. Beyond UFS 4.0 4-lane, a little further ahead in time in 2027, Samsung is planning to release the next major step in mobile storage technology, UFS 5.0, said to be capable of 10GB/s speeds. This means we might see the Galaxy S27 rocking that much faster storage. As for what Galaxy phone will be the first to get the UFS 4.0 4-lane storage, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to assume the Galaxy S25 series might be the one to look forward to start production this year.