Surface Laptop Ultra’s magnetic USB-C charging

The Surface Laptop Ultra brings magnetic charging to USB-C with a cable that attaches to the laptop’s right-side USB-C port. Rather than plugging in the connector in the usual way, you can bring it close to the port and let it snap into place, as Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri described during Microsoft’s Windows event on Wednesday.

Microsoft calls the feature Magnetic Connect. Although the connection is magnetic, the charging solution is still proprietary. It uses the USB-C port on the right side of the laptop, rather than the separate Surface Connect charging port Microsoft had used on its smaller Surface devices before scrapping that approach last year.

Using a USB-C port for magnetic charging does not make it charging-only: the port still works for video, data, and other USB-C connectivity. That means the cable attaches magnetically when used for charging, while the port remains available for the other uses you would expect from USB-C. The combination gives the Surface Laptop Ultra a magnetic charging connection without giving up the port’s broader capabilities.

How Magnetic Connect works

At Microsoft’s Windows event on Wednesday, Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri described Magnetic Connect as a simple way to attach the Surface Laptop Ultra’s charging cable. You bring the connector close to the right-side USB-C port, and it snaps into place magnetically. There’s no need to push the plug into the port in the usual way: the magnetic connection guides it into position.

Microsoft calls the feature Magnetic Connect. Although it uses a USB-C port, the magnetic charging connector is still a proprietary solution. Its design combines the familiar USB-C connection with a magnetic attachment, letting the cable snap onto the laptop when brought near the port.

That magnetic action applies to the charging cable; it does not change what the port can do. The same USB-C port remains available for video, data and other USB-C connectivity. In other words, Magnetic Connect adds a magnetic way to attach the charger while keeping the port’s other uses intact.

The USB-C port still supports other uses

Magnetic Connect is still a proprietary charging solution, even though it uses the Surface Laptop Ultra’s USB-C port. The magnetic attachment does not turn the port into a charging-only connector: Microsoft says it continues to work for video, data and other USB-C connectivity, as you’d expect.

That means the same port can serve different purposes. When you want to charge, bring the magnetic connector close to the right-side port and it snaps into place. The port remains available for video and data, as well as other USB-C connections. Magnetic Connect changes how the charging cable attaches; it does not remove those other uses of USB-C.

So the magnetic feature is specific to Microsoft’s charging solution, rather than a replacement for the broader functions of USB-C. The connector can attach magnetically while the port still supports the video, data and other connectivity people expect from USB-C.

A change from Surface Connect

Microsoft’s Magnetic Connect marks a shift from the proprietary Surface Connect charging used on earlier Surface devices. The company scrapped Surface Connect magnetic charging on its smaller Surface devices last year. Now, the Surface Laptop Ultra uses a magnetic USB-C charging cable instead, attaching to the USB-C port on the laptop’s right side.

The new approach is still proprietary, but it uses a port with other capabilities. The USB-C connection remains available for video, data and other USB-C connectivity, as expected. So while the magnetic attachment changes how the laptop charges, the port itself can still serve its usual purposes.

Microsoft calls the system Magnetic Connect. At the company’s Windows event, Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri described how it works: bring the connector close to the port, and it snaps into place. That makes the charging connection magnetic without bringing back Surface Connect on the smaller devices where Microsoft scrapped it last year. On the Surface Laptop Ultra, the company has instead paired magnetic charging with USB-C.