Toshiba touts industry-first 12-disk HDD stacking technology, will pair with microwave-based recording tech — says advance will enable 40TB drives in 2027

Toshiba has unveiled a groundbreaking 12-disk stacking technology for hard drives, surpassing competitors who can only fit 10 platters in their 3.5-inch HDDs. This advancement is expected to lead to the production of 40TB HDDs for data centers by 2027. The innovation involves miniaturization and the use of a glass substrate for increased durability and thinner designs. Toshiba plans to pair this technology with Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR) for the 40TB drives, with potential future exploration of Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR). The company aims to showcase this technology at the IDEMA Symposium in 2025 to provide more technical details.