The Atari XF551 was the last official Atari floppy disk drive for the 8-bit line (XL/XE series). Released in 1987, it was intended to replace the outdated and slow 1050. It could use both sides of a floppy disk without manually flipping it. Its capacity increased to 360 KB. Thanks to an updated SIO interface and high recording density, it was significantly faster than its predecessors. The case was designed in the light gray style of the Atari XE line, to perfectly match the 65XE or 130XE.

Device contained a standard PC drive (usually from Chinon or Mitsumi). It fully supported older formats (Single Density 90 KB and Enhanced Density 130 KB), which was critical for a game library.

Disk Drive used a specific connector and AC power (9V AC), which was easily confused with other drives, often resulting in failure.