Barbara
INTRODUCTION
Attention! Western Digital has finally admitted that its SanDisk Extreme Pro portable solid-state drives have been critically broken. In their attempt to fix the issue, however, they have only resolved it for the 4TB model. Unfortunately, the 2TB model is still susceptible to the problem.
WHAT HAPPENED
A couple of months ago, Verge supervising producer, Vjeran Pavic lost an entire 4TB SanDisk Extreme Pro of video clips. This loss came with no trace, which he found weird since when he tried adding the files back, they started disappearing one after the other. When contacted, SanDisk customer support could not replace his drive because the 4TB model was being recalled. They, however, made a deal to swap it for a pair of 2TB units instead, but he hasn’t received them yet as the company’s RMA system was down amidst a data breach.
THE ISSUE
From Ars Technica reports, it appears that the 2TB model may also be susceptible to the same issue. Editor Lee Hutchinson has had two of the 2TB Extreme Pros die on him, with their entire filesystem wiped, and there are similar complaints online.
WHY WE HELD OFF ON REPORTING IT
We held off on reporting it earlier because there was evidence that the 4TB model was still on sale and not actually being recalled. Moreover, when we contacted WD about the issue back in March, the company told us they were “actively investigating” a “small number of reports,” downplaying the problem.
A WARNING
Vjeran Pavic rightly tweeted a warning when he noticed the company started putting the drives on deep discount. With WD’s tacit admission today, there’s no way that anyone can buy this drive without independent third-party testing that the issue is gone.
CONCLUSION
It is high time we take note of the SanDisk Extreme Pro portable solid-state drives’ critical flaws. The issue has persisted for months, and the company’s attempt to fix it has only resolved it for one model, leaving the other susceptible to the same problem. Be warned and take steps to protect your sensitive files.
