# Is new WD my passport 4TB smr drive? **URL:** \ **Category:** My Passport\ **Created:** [July 29, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615 "2016-07-29T01:13:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4af34b/32.png) [@Jin](https://community.wd.com/u/Jin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615/1 "2016-07-29T01:13:45Z")
Hi, all. I read several articles that the new WD my passport 4TB is smr drive. Is it true? If yes, I should wait till they release another product which is not smr type. ---
**Author:** ![ERmorel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wd/user_avatar/community.wd.com/ermorel/32/19770_2.png) [@ERmorel](https://community.wd.com/u/ERmorel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615/2 "2016-07-29T18:40:54Z")
Hello, At the moment, I don’t have that information available. Perhaps, you can try contacting WD support directly. WD Contact info: > **[Support Options](http://support.wdc.com/contact.aspx?lang=en)** > > Ways to contact WD support. ---
**Author:** ![mike27oct](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wd/user_avatar/community.wd.com/mike27oct/32/36021_2.png) [@mike27oct](https://community.wd.com/u/mike27oct)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615/3 "2016-07-29T21:08:24Z")
What is your aversion to SMR (shingled magnetic recording)? It is the newest way to pack lots of recording capacity in a smaller space. Seagate also makes SMR drives. That is how a small Passport can hold 4TB of data. Anyway, I am confident that WD has well researched and tested SMR technology before coming out with drives with SMR. It also has a nice warranty, so take the plunge if you want 4TB in a small space. Not a lot of articles about this yet, but I did find this one: > **[Western Digital Expands My Passport External USB 3.0 Drives To 4 TB](https://www.anandtech.com/show/10456/western-digital-expands-capacities-of-my-passport-drives-using-4-tb-25-hdd)** ---
**Author:** ![Jin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4af34b/32.png) [@Jin](https://community.wd.com/u/Jin)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615/5 "2016-07-30T02:42:18Z")
Yes, i read the article as well. Some people complained about its read/write speed. The same issue happened from Seagate backup plus 4TB. I noticed the smr technology is as if the magentic tape one. When i read it, i thought it sounds unworthy to buy for backup my all important files. I have bought wd only to backup, but i should consider about it this time. Of course, smr technology sounds good for archive backup, but i use them for real usage occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![mike27oct](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wd/user_avatar/community.wd.com/mike27oct/32/36021_2.png) [@mike27oct](https://community.wd.com/u/mike27oct)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615/6 "2016-07-30T02:54:18Z")
None of these portable drives have great read/write speed. Really best for archive. Most spin at 5400 rpm. If you want speed, get a desk model that runs at 7200 rpm. ---
**Author:** ![JoeySmyth](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/wd/user_avatar/community.wd.com/joeysmyth/32/38369_2.png) [@JoeySmyth](https://community.wd.com/u/JoeySmyth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://community.wd.com/t/is-new-wd-my-passport-4tb-smr-drive/172615/7 "2016-08-02T00:04:28Z")
i can 100% confirm the My Passport Ultra 4TB is indeed a SMR drive … and the Read / Write speeds are comparable to a conventional hard disk.