Samsung Electronics just filed trademark paperwork for two unreleased client SSD models, the SSD 990 EVO Plus, and the SSD 9100 PRO. Having exhausted the three-digit model number sequence with the 990 PRO, Samsung is going with the 9000 series for the next nine generations of its flagship M.2-2280 client SSDs, beginning with the 9100 PRO, which will likely be succeeded in the future by the 9200 PRO, 9300 PRO, and so on. Nothing yet is known about the 9100 PRO, but we predict it to be Samsung's answer to the latest crop of Gen 5 drives that offer over 14 GB/s of sequential read speeds, and over 12 GB/s of sequential writes.

The Samsung 990 EVO Plus could be a whole different drive from the current 990 EVO, designed to compete with the value end of Gen 5 SSDs that are based on the new Phison E31T DRAMless Gen 5 controller with around 11 GB/s of sequential transfer speeds on tap. This is something the current 990 EVO cannot achieve, as its controller has a wacky logic that either uses Gen 4 x4 or Gen 5 x2 (it lowers the lane count upon detecting Gen 5). Samsung will probably remove this limitation with the 990 EVO Plus, allowing Gen 5 x4, and getting its performance in the league of the E31T-powered drives.