These are newer features developed since the original SATA 1.0A specifications and may be incorporated into new devices including desktop, notebook, and external devices.

Port Multiplier: A Port Multiplier is a mechanism for one active host connection to communicate with multiple devices (allows several disks to be attached to a single SATA port rather than just one). A Port Multiplier can be thought of as a simple multiplexer where one active host connection is multiplexed to multiple device connections. Only one active host connection to the Port Multiplier is supported. The Port Multiplier is an extensible design that supports up to 15 device connections and utilizes the full bandwidth of the host connection. Uses standard SATA disks only controller/device must support this feature.

NCQ (Native Command Queuing): NCQ allows multiple commands to be issued to a device (hard disk) which can then can reorder up to 32 outstanding commands for optimum efficiency based on the disk's organization and angular position. This increases performance and reduces mechanical wear on the disk drive. Both hard disk and controller must support this feature.

Click Connect: The latest "inside the box" SATA cable & connector designed for robustness and high mobility connection.

These internal interconnects are designed to securely mate device and host side connectors. Latching snap ensures proper connection - you know it is secure when you hear the "click" plus they are fully compatible with existing SATA cables and connectors.

eSATA: (External SATA) - External device interface specification including new shielded connector and a shielded cable up to two meters in length. The external connector is keyed so it cannot be accidentally plugged into an internal connector. eSATA is up to 6 times faster than existing external storage solutions such as USB 2.0 or 1394.

Asynchronous notification: Asynchronous notification is a mechanism for a device to send a notification to the host that the device requires attention. A few examples of how this mechanism could be used include indicating media has been inserted in an ATAPI device or indicating that a hot plug event has occurred on a Port Multiplier port.

Hot-Plug: The current SATA cables are not designed for immediately hot plug the pins on cable are not staggered may cause electrical short. SATA 1.0 expects drives to be plugged in HOT and signal presence via S-ATA reset sequence. SATA II allows for device detection without power being applied (via impedance detection). The ability to connect and disconnect devices without prior notification to the system. Supported by external cables and backplane connectors and eSATA.

Staggered Spin Up: Platforms that include numerous Serial ATA hard disk drives may be presented with power system design issues related to the electrical current load presented during system power-up. Staggered Spin Up gives the HBA (Host Bus Adapter) device the ability to spin up the hard drives sequentially to prevent power load problems on boot. Note that Serial ATA disk drive vendors may not always provide the capability to parse or execute ATA commands prior to spinning up a drive and completing drive initialization, therefore this mechanism may not rely on the ATA protocol.

Link Power Management: This is an intelligent power management system controlled by the hardware to save energy, improve battery life (in notebooks), and reduce heat. SATA Link Power Management puts the physical layer (PHY) of the link into a low-power state, independent of the ATA protocol power state of the disk, and as such complements the existing power management capabilities provided by the ATA command set. The ATA command set reduces the power consumption of the attached device by issuing protocol-level power state change requests to the disk. These requests typically instruct the device to spin down the media to save power.

xSATA: xSATA, which extends the cable length of the external SATA cable (eSATA), starts at 2 meters cable length but the xSATA addition will extend that to 8 meters, permitting users additional flexibility in setting up their devices.