Microsoft Readying $80 USB-C Dongle for Surface

Microsoft's long-promised USB-C dongle for its Surface laptop is reportedly coming this week.

In an interview with The Verge over a year ago, Microsoft's Surface chief Panos Panay said that a dongle was in the works. The Verge is now reporting that a rather large dongle to connect USB-C devices will be available starting on Friday.

According to the report, the dongle will cost $79.99, will be available for commercial customers and will plug into the Surface Connect port.

The Friday timeframe seems on track. A day after The Verge released its report, ZDNet and Redmond columnist Mary Jo Foley spotted a new reference to a "Surface Connect to USB-C Adapter" on Microsoft's Surface Web site.

Last year, Panay said he believed in USB-C, but that the right approach would be a dongle, since he didn't think it was the right move yet to replace any of the devices' limited number of other ports and connectors.

The Surface Book 2 already includes a USB-C port, along with two USB 3.0 Type A ports, a UHS-II SDXC card reader, a 3.5mm headphone jack and two Surface Connect ports.

The dongle will work with the first-generation Surface Book and with the Surface Pro. Surface Pro connections include USB 3.0, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSDXC card reader, Mini DisplayPort, Cover port and Surface Connect port. The first Surface Book has two USB 3.0 Type A ports, a headphone jack, a card reader, a Mini DisplayPort and two Surface Connect ports.

Posted by Scott Bekker on June 26, 2018 at 12:42 PM