“Why do HDDs seem to follow a doubling rule (256GB, 512GB, 1TB, etc.), but SSDs don’t?”

(Answer requested by Nelson Vidinha)

Because you can’t add half a platter to an HDD.

HDD capacity is usually added in large-ish chunks, a platter at a time. An HDD might have one, two, or many platters. For each drive type and geometry, there’s a commercially-ideal capacity per platter. Hence: drive capacity commonly goes up in large-ish chunks, a platter-full at a time.

SSDs also add memory in chunks, but the chunks are much smaller (per chip, rather than per platter), allowing for greater granularity.

There’s also material cost: HDDs are relatively inexpensive, so it makes sense to pile on the platters/capacity. SSD prices are dropping fast, but they’ve traditionally been expensive, which is an incentive to offer smaller, more granular sizes.

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