Microsoft has simply introduced two new Floor gadgets, and neither comes with the corporate’s Floor Join charging port. The Surface Pro 12-inch and Surface Laptop 13-inch can now solely be charged by way of USB-C ports on the gadgets, after years of Microsoft equipping its Floor laptops and tablets with the corporate’s proprietary magnetic charging port.
Whereas this isn’t the primary time Microsoft has ditched the Floor Join port on a brand new gadget, it does really feel like the corporate is now lastly pleased with charging over USB-C. This all however confirms that the following iterations of the bigger Floor Professional and Floor Laptop computer fashions may also ship with out the magnetic charging port.
The Floor 3 shipped with simply Micro USB charging, however the firm has at all times included the Floor Join on its Floor Professional line of gadgets. The compatibility has meant you should utilize an current Floor charger throughout all kinds of Microsoft’s {hardware} relationship again many generations.
Microsoft additionally no longer ships a charger within the field for its employment opportunities Floor gadgets, in compliance with EU initiatives to cut back e-waste. The change to simply USB-C charging on Floor gadgets comes almost eight years after Microsoft was initially underneath stress so as to add USB-C ports to its {hardware}. On the time, Microsoft created a USB-C dongle as a substitute with former Floor chief Panos Panay joking that it was for “individuals who love dongles.”