SanDisk shows off prototype of 1TB SD card

SanDisk has crammed a record-breaking 1TB of storage onto an SD card, though it's only a demo of a prototype.

Those readers who have been around a bit longer may well remember SD cards measured in megabytes, and the 1TB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I offers more storage than many laptops.

But SanDisk believes we'll soon be asking for more storage space, especially as photography and video professionals switch to 4K and 8K resolution formats, and for production of virtual reality content.

"Sixteen years ago we introduced the first SanDisk 64MB SD card and today we are enabling capacities of 1TB," said Dinesh Bahal, VP of product management for the content solutions business unit of SanDisk's owner, Western Digital.

Western Digital didn't explain how it managed the feat, only saying it used "proprietary technology".

The company unveiled a 512GB version two years ago, but unlike that model, the 1TB edition remains only a prototype designed to prove the technology can offer such high capacity storage.

The 512GB card is available for 220 online, so not only expect the 1TB to be much more, but it's also unlikely to be affordable - or necessary - for family holiday snaps anytime soon.