Seagate is getting ready to release its biggest hard drive, featuring a 32 TB capacity through new Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology; this milestone comes after nearly a decade and a half of anticipation. Seagate first tested HAMR technology in 2007. The company has repeatedly promised that HAMR-based drives would be available within a few years; however, those predictions have been repeatedly postponed until now.

New Exos drives based on the Mozaic 3+ platform have been available in limited quantities for select customers. Now that they are in mass production, Seagate has quietly revealed the product page for its Exos M HDDs. The lineup includes a 32 TB model that uses Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) technology and a 30 TB model that uses Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR). Seagate says its Exos M hard drive has a 3 TB per platter density.One important advancement is the compatibility of Exos M drives with existing systems. This is critical for widespread adoption. Previous iterations of the Mozaic 3+ HDDs would require new hardware, which would be a major obstacle to upgrading. Details on how the Exos M differs from the original Mozaic 3+ drives remain somewhat vague, as limited technical information is provided on the product page.

This launch marks a significant moment for Seagate, finally bringing to market technology they have been developing for years. In October, rival Western Digital launched a 32 TB hard drive using energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording (ePMR), while Toshiba demonstrated high-capacity hard drives with HAMR and microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) technology.