MLC, or Multi-Level Cell, is a type of flash memory where each memory cell can store more than a single bit of information. Typical cells store two bits of information; twice the size of a normal SLC cell.
Because a single cell stores more information, MLC memory has a lower cost per gigabyte, and uses less power to operate. The downside of MLC is that it is less durable than SLC memory, and writing information to is is significantly slower. A commonly mentioned statistic is that SLC cells can handle about 100.000 write/erase cycles, and MLC only about 10.000; these figures do of course vary in practice, but in general it’s true that SLC is more durable. This makes MLC the primary choice for cheaper and larger drives, while performance-oriented drives typically use SLC memory.
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