Seagate today introduced the IronWolf 525, a line of M.2 NVMe SSDs for NAS applications. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, these drives take advantage of the PCI-Express 4.0 x4 interface, and come in capacities of 500 GB (model: ZP500NM30002), 1 TB (ZP1000NM30002), and 2 TB (ZP2000NM30002). What sets these drives apart is the endurance. Seagate claims 2,800 TBW for the 2 TB variant, 1,400 TBW for the 1 TB variant, and 700 TBW for the 500 GB. The drives are backed by 5-year warranties. Under the hood, the Seagate IronWolf 525 series combines a high-endurance variant of KIOXIA 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash, with Phison E16-series controller.

In terms of performance, the 2 TB variant offers up to 740,000 IOPS 4K random reads, up to 700,000 IOPS 4K random writes; up to 5000 MB/s sequential reads, and up to 4400 MB/s sequential writes. The 1 TB variant does up to 760,000 IOPS 4K random reads, up to 700,000 IOPS 4K random writes; and up to 5000 MB/s sequential reads, with up to 4400 MB/s writes. The 500 GB variant is the slowest, with up to 420,000 IOPS 4K random reads, up to 630,000 IOPS 4K random writes, up to 5000 MB/s sequential reads, and up to 2500 MB/s sequential writes. Seagate did not reveal prices, but we expect these drives to eventually replace the IronWolf 510 series, with the 500 GB variant going for roughly $100, the 1 TB variant for roughly $180, and the 2 TB variant roughly $370.