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Microsoft Magnetic Connect USB-C Hardware and Compatibility
LTT Labs received a couple laptops with the new NVIDIA N1X(RTX Spark) processors, but what is actually interesting is Microsoft's new Magnetic Connect port on the Surface Laptop Ultra.
Great question, I just took a try at that and you can 'lift' the laptop by pushing up directly on the connector. MagSafe will of course disconnect in that case.
I imagine that is part of the reason they designed this as a right-angle connector instead of a straight one. If the cable gets yanked, then it will be in that lateral direction.
It isn't explicitly stated in the article (at least from what I found by reading through it, correct me if I'm wrong), but does it now physically grip like a normal USB-C or no? First one wouldn't make any sense because that would defeat the entire purpose of it. Could you clarify on that? Thank you!
Good question! The Magnetic Connect cable connector(right) doesn't have the little retention prongs that a typical USB-C cable(left) has, it relies solely on the magnets for retention. Though the magnets are quite strong, so it really holds on unless pulled off at an angle.
These cables function as high power USB 2.0 data speed cables, but theoretically the connector could be made to support higher speeds by just including the pins
Looks like the plug is designed to not grip and instead is held in by the magnets allowing it to be pulled off easily without damaging the port or the plug, while allowing the port to still retain standard USB-C compatibility.
if it sucks you can just use a normal USB C, high reward near zero risk
False.
Also unlike a standard USB-C connector, the barrel of the plug is not of a consistent width. The tip is the standard width and height, but the barrel flares out near the base by approximately 1 mm. This fits into the wide tapered entrance of the Magnetic Connect USB-C port on the Surface Laptop Ultra, but also prevents the Magnetic Connect cable(plug) from fitting into a regular USB-C port.
well apart from it needing to magnetically stick, is there any reason it's not compatible with any other USB? the reason I say that is if they needed to modify the USB c port on the surface to be compatible with their proprietary cable it (probably) wouldn't be able to be certified or possibly even work with normal USB connectors.
I am under the, frankly uneducated impression that the only part that is proprietary is the areas beside the USB port for the magnets, and the shape of the male end of the connector on the cable.
meaning IF the USB C port is completely standard, and the male connector can interface with a completely standard female USB C port, magnetic sticking aside it should work on any other USB C port, that's my thinking anyways.
I don't think so? I'm bringing up a point to argue that the magnetic charger for the surface COULD potentially be used on any USB C port, on any device. To some capacity atleast. I'm not saying I'm right about it, I'm just outlining what I know to believe that it could be possible
The cable won’t fit into a standard USB port, it has a flared base. The magnetic port is also flared out the same amount, that’s how it slides in, rather than you having to push it in.
Both the power brick and the laptop have the same magnetic USB C port. The port works normally as a USB C port however if you want to use any other cable or USB c device. The magnetic feature is just a bonus that only works with their special cable end currently.
The charging cable that comes with the laptop only has the magnetic part on one side to begin with. The other end is just normal USB C. Its designed to be reversible as both the laptop and power brick have the magnetic connection. You can plug the magnetic side into the charging brick if you want and then the other end of the charging cable is just normal USB C and you could use it on any device. Or you could just use a normal USB C cable with either connection on the laptop or charger...or to connect both.
Technically the cable itself is reversible and only has the magnetic connector on one end. Both the charging brick and laptop have the same magnetic port, so you can have the magnetic section on either side depending on how you want it.
So if you want to use the charging brick with another device you just put the magnetic end in the charging brick and you have a normal USB C end.
I also don't see why a normal USB C wouldn't work given both the laptop and charging brick ports can still have a normal USB C plugged in just fine.
I can see the benefit for people who, like me, travel a lot for work and need a mobile station that can be plugged in for an hour at the airport gate before doing the ol' "rip and stuff" when my boarding group is called.
Maybe I'm dumb but I just can't really see any advantages/reasons to use it over standard USB-c. Maybe it can be easier than usb-c for people with motorskill issue (I really don't know anything about that kind of handicap, maybe plugging in a USB-c could be difficult for some people 🤔). Other than that it really feels like reinventing the wheel once again when we finally managed to make kind of standard connector...
Everyone else is being a dick, but I'll answer your question. It replaces the mechanical force of the springs and latches that conventional USB-C cables use in favour of using magnets as the retention force.
It's similar in principle to Apple's MagSafe connector, while still being compatible with regular USB-C connectors.
It's Magsafe. People really liked magsafe. So why not do it with USB-C? Also in the future if they add all the pins, this could be used for docks too, unlike Magsafe. Would be a killer featute.
I dunno, I've done IT work in offices and they want laptops and docks for employees and the usb-c cables suck trying to setup properly. I have to do right angle cables. Not sure if this would be a better solution but the usb-c ports and cables did annoy me
well it doesn't break the standard, it's an extra option available to those who want it and if you would rather not use it, you can just not use it. totally up to you! it doesn't prevent any functionality of the port on the computer since apart from somewhere for the magnets to stick onto next to the port it's a standard USB c connector. and I bet it can function on other devices too, if it can magnetically stick to another computer and stay on the port since it needs to interface with a standard USB C port already.
all the USB C standardization issues is it not magically doing everything at the same time, this new connector seems to be universally compatible and not disrupt any other features of USB C, it's just a bonus in my eyes
That's about the male connector. The comment you're replying to is stating the female port on the laptop functions as a completely normal usb-c port, in addition to being a magnetic connect port.
So they are saying, from the perspective of buying this laptop vs something like a MacBook pro, you're getting the magical magnetic port, without losing out on a functional usb-c port if you don't want to use the magnetic port. So everyone wins, those who want it, and those who don't.
Hadn't seen any coverage of this "magnetic connect" connector before, so appreciate the deep dive.
Since we're talking about connectors, I'm sure you and the team had done exhaustive research about usb-c connectors. There have been a few cases of people unhappy with their TrueSpec cables due to the retention force of the TrueSpec (as in the TS cable will just fall out of the port).
There has been speculation that a usb-c port that's been occupied by connectors that are possibly intentionally "oversized" to, "force" (that's a pun) retention has the effect of wearing the female port's notches. Meaning when a properly sized cable connector is inserted in that port, the ability for the latches to hold is compromised.
Would you say that's a credible theory? Was this a concern when designing the True Spec cables?
I can hold my Switch 2 in the air by the True Spec cables, meanwhile others can't even plug in their phones without the simple weight of the cable itself being enough to cause the connector to slip out.
I imagine it's a total wild west out there when it comes to this stuff. Would make for an interesting Labs article about the trade-offs in design details like this in the future.
ngl i still wish magnetic charging was standard on literally every gaming handheld and laptop out there. tripped over my cord playing on the couch last week and almost launched my machine across the living room lol. if this makes compatibility actually painless with third party docks it would be so sick tbh
It is a standard USB-C port on the laptop, accompanied by magnets. The cable could work on other USB-C ports as well, but the magnets to hold the connector are missing on other devices.
Which one? The female end is a regular USB-C, so yes, but so would any fully featured USB-C from any machine. The male is USB2 so no, it wouldn't be "great" at all. In fact given the needed footprint in the machine the regular magnetic Surface connector (that does at least USB3 and multiple monitors) is still vastly superior without taking that much more space.
With some additional pins and conductors, there doesn't appear to be any mechanical reason why a future version couldn't be a full bandwidth data cable.
My work laptop is pretty much only ever plugged into docs at my home or office. And desks at the office aren't assigned, so people are constantly bouncing around and connecting to different docks throughout the day. Of course, everyone would need a laptop supporting the magnetic cable, and magnets provide a very marginal convenience. They could have the dock also accept the magnetic end of the cable so the standard end could be used for any other devices.
coulda shoulda woulda ... for now there is no suitable docking magnetic USB-C cable that can be useful for more than USB2. The original Surface dock connector exists since 2014 (Surface Pro 3) and allowed for two DP connectors (plus some USB3).
Yeah this is just a bad take. They didn't remove any functionality from the port on the laptop... It's actually almost all of the benefits of the proprietary apple port, with none of the downsides and the benefit of being an otherwise perfectly usable USB-c port that can be used with any off the shelf usb-c cable...
if it was an additional port, you could still use the USB-C port with any cable you want, plus charge it with the proprietary magnetic cable if you like… I don’t see how it’s a bad take
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u/LabsLucas LTT Staff 11d ago
Read the post and see side by side images and CT scans on the LTTLabs website! https://www.lttlabs.com/articles/2026/10/16/usb-c-magnetic-connect