Apple MacBook Air, MacBook Pro Achieve Double Memory Boost With New Storage Expansion Module From TarDisk [EXCLUSIVE]

Most Apple users are familiar with the compromise that comes with owning a MacBook. Slimmer, thinner and more aesthetically pleasing designs may not always offer the best storage options around. One must either make do with limited memory or choose to upgrade, which can be both expensive and difficult. Fortunately, MacBook users now have the option of quickly and easily adding 256 GB more onboard storage, doubling, or even tripling1, the device's onboard capacity. After launching a successful Kickstarter campaign and starting full-scale production, TarDisk's "Bigger on the Inside" vision is now available to standard users.

TarDisk Chief Technical Officer Craig Leaf talks to International Business Times exclusively about what this new piece of designer tech hardware offers. "TarDisk is the easiest way to double or triple your MacBook’s storage capacity," Leaf said. "For many newer MacBook models, it's the only 256 GB onboard storage upgrade option." By utilising the MacBook's rarely used SDXC port, "TarDisk can leverage the high-bandwidth PCIe bus connection to directly integrate with your system and doesn't take up your most commonly used USB ports."

TarDisk's flash platform capitalises on the latest innovations using fast controllers, efficient and smaller connectors, and NAND memory. TarDisk's 256 GB flash chip is both fast and small enough to fit into a range of Apple short SDXC ports. The chip measures only 14 mm in length, a little less than half the size of the standard SD card. TarDisk chose to go for a unibody aluminium design because it offers performance boot and physical protection at the same time. It protects the device by doubling as an additional heat sink, dissipating the flash chip's excess heat ensuring stability and longevity.

"Essentially, we wanted to redesign digital storage," Leaf said. The end result was TarDisk.

Bigger On The Inside

TarDisk came to life after Leaf and TarDisk CEO Pierce Schiller saw how micro-SD and SD cards currently available are neither fast, stable nor large enough for operating systems and demanding applications. They are also not physically designed for the demands of a portable computer. The two wanted to create an impressive on-board solution that was flush, tool-free and intuitive. This required coming up with a simpler, smarter solution that offered both the high operational performance and aesthetic standards Apple customers expect.

Leaf explained they created several prototypes that received feedback from Macbook users, students, professionals and techies. After about a year of development and testing, the TarDisk 256 GB flash platform was born.

TarDisk may be a more viable option than existing and competing products, the CTO believes. "TarDisk … is the best option available. It is certainly the quickest, easiest and in most cases the least expensive way to add 256 GB of on-board storage," Leaf explains.

He further emphasised users may find upgrading to a Solid State Drive manually, which is available only to older MacBook models, can be quite tricky and risky. It can destroy the laptop and void Apple warranty at the same time.

"You can bring it to a third party computer repair service but this type of upgrade can cost more than $700 (what with the new drive, the labor, the OSX install, the data migration, etc.)," Leaf added, bringing to light the solution they offer. To emphasise how convenient the platform is, Leaf claims his 4-year-old can install the flash and remove it, no tools or tech savvy required.

"[The platform] provides the simplest - and for many MacBooks - the only, 256 GB storage upgrade," said Schiller, who worked as a bioelectric researcher at Harvard, emphasising why their flash platform could be a contender. "We set out to build TarDisk around what we valued in the products we cherish - mainly, performance, quality and ease of use."

Users and backers may have realised the potential of TarDisk's flash platform, given the Kickstarter campaign ended successfully with 393% funding received, raising as much as $127,838. According to the company, due to high demand, TarDisk is already set up to receive pre-orders at a discounted, post Kickstarter, price through its website (www.TarDisk.com).

Apart from the memory boost, Kickstarter backers were also provided with a small "option boot" Ubuntu partition pre-installed on TarDisk. Similar to unibody MacBooks, every TarDisk chassis will be carved from "a single aluminum block with precision CNC lathes that specialize in making aerospace and medical components." Adding to the list of support, Google Cloud platform has given TarDisk $100,000 in cloud platform credit for one year to work on additional cloud storage, allowing TarDisk to create additional cloud backup for TarDisk owners. The "TarDisk Nethersphere" would provide users with extra file sharing and backup options for their iPhone, iPad, iPod and iWatch.

As TarDisk's Kickstarter campaign ended on the same day Apple released the 12-inch Retina, TarDisk will not immediately support the new model. Leaf did clarify they are looking into developing a USB-C adapter of sorts for the 12-inch edition. As the new 2015 Retina 13 will still feature an SDXC port, TarDisk will support this model and all other models except the 11-inch MacBook Air.

Leaf notes TarDisk 256 is only the beginning. The company has been looking into developing a platform for new software that could change how users interact with their MacBook. Other possible ventures include adding new layers of performance and potential, but so far, the team is intent on bringing to life the flash option. With parties expressing their interest over the flash platform, a Windows version may soon be in the works once the initial TarDisk hits shelves.

"If the demand presents itself we would be very excited to also run a PC TarDisk Line," Leaf adds, as if to give a glimpse of the future. "Many new PC laptop/ultra books are switching to a format similar to Apple MacBook, limited SSD and new reduced SDXC port, Yoga 2 Pro/Asus Zenbook/Samsung ATIV Book 9+, Google Chrome Book."

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