The company said its 5th-gen 3D NAND memory should put its density about 40 percent higher than its nearest competitors, which are using 128-layer NAND.

Micron said read and write latencies are reduced by 35 percent compared to its 96-layer NAND, and by 25 percent compared to its 128-layer NAND.

Micron isn't the only NAND memory manufacturer that has 176 layers, but it is the first to start volume shipments. The Micron NAND is TLC, or three-bits per cell, and is said to have 33 percent faster transfer rates, as well as a 35 percent improvement in read and write latencies.

TLC NAND rather than QLC means that the new memory should offer better drive endurance, too.

The 176-layer design comes from stacking two 88-layer stacks together, which isn't a new thing for Micron.

The result is far better density for larger drives. Micron said the new 176-layer NAND is about as thick as one-fifth of a sheet of printer paper, and works out to be as thick its previous 64-layer NAND despite having more than twice as many layers.

In the end, this will lead to larger SSDs and potentially cheaper ones, at least eventually.