Apple Hikes External SSD Prices, Some SanDisk Products Jump Up 200%

Last updated: 2026/03/23 at 8:29 AM

News Room Published 23 March 2026

Buying an external hard drive from Apple is now much more expensive, and it’s likely due to the ongoing global storage crisis affecting RAM and SSD production.

As spotted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple updated prices in recent days with considerable jumps across third-party SSD accessories. The prices are normally set by each manufacturer, rather than Apple itself.

The price of a SanDisk 4TB Pro-G40 SSD has risen from $499.95 to $1,199.95. That’s a 140% jump in one swoop, on top of a previous rise from the $399.95 launch price for this 4TB model.

Bloomberg also reports that a 1TB SanDisk SSD jumped from around $120 to $360, although PCMag was unable to find that model on Apple’s website. That may mean it has been removed entirely, since it currently offers only 2TB and 4TB options for the Pro-G40. That equals a jump of over 200% for a SanDisk 1TB model.

PCMag found that all storage accessories on Apple’s US website are currently sold out, except for its own SSD upgrade kits built for the Mac Pro, which offer either 4TB or 8TB of storage.

Every product from third-party storage companies, including LaCie, Promise, and SanDisk, is currently unavailable on the website, with a note that you may find stock in-store. That may be worth trying, but there’s no guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for in a physical location either.

Recommended by Our Editors

If you’ve been following the spread of the AI-driven crisis through to the SSD and HDD space, you likely won’t be surprised to see these price jumps from Apple. We’ve seen similar at other retailers and manufacturers across the last year.

Looking to buy yourself more storage in the immediate future? Check out our roundup of the best external SSDs, with our top pick, the Crucial X9 Pro 1TB, available for $166.75 and in stock through a third-party seller on Amazon. Before you buy, know that this price is higher than Amazon’s previous high of $129.99, and some sales brought it down to $59.99 back in 2023.