Microsoft Builds Magnetic Charging Right Into the New Surface Laptop Ultra’s USB-C

Microsoft has come up with an unusual alternative to MagSafe: on the Surface Laptop Ultra, a regular USB-C port doubles as both a full universal port and a magnetic power connector. The new system is called Magnetic Connect, and a special cable ships with the laptop.

The company announced the Surface Laptop Ultra back on May 31, but only revealed the price, release date and details of the new charging system on October 7. Microsoft calls it the first built-in magnetic USB-C for laptop charging.

One port instead of a separate magnetic charger

The principle is similar to Apple MagSafe: magnets help the cable align properly with the laptop, and a sharp tug can break the connection without dragging the device off the table.

The key difference is that Microsoft didn’t add a separate power connector. Magnetic Connect uses the right USB-C port, which remains a regular USB-C once the magnetic cable is unplugged and works for data transfer, video output and peripherals. You can also charge the laptop with a standard compatible USB-C cable.

Microsoft confirms that the box includes a proprietary magnetic cable, and the power adapter is rated at 140W. The chassis still has two more USB-C ports, HDMI, USB-A, a full-size SD card reader and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Essentially, the company tried to solve one of classic MagSafe’s drawbacks: a separate magnetic charger is convenient, but it takes up space on the chassis and serves only one purpose. Here, the same physical connector can handle different tasks.

First look at Surface Laptop Ultra’s special magnetic USB-C port. Pretty neat! https://t.co/TuShoRastR

— Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) October 7, 2026

For now, only on the expensive Surface

The Surface Laptop Ultra is built on the NVIDIA RTX Spark platform with Blackwell RTX graphics and a Grace processor. Top configurations get up to 20 CPU cores and 128GB of unified memory. The laptop has a 15-inch touchscreen and is aimed primarily at developers, content creators and work with local AI models.

The base version in the Microsoft Store costs $2599.99 and includes an 18-core RTX Spark N1X, 24GB of memory and a 512GB SSD. Sales start on October 16, 2026. Top configurations with 128GB of memory cost significantly more.

For now, Magnetic Connect remains a proprietary feature of the Surface Laptop Ultra. Microsoft hasn’t said whether the design will come to regular Surface Laptops or become available to other manufacturers. So this isn’t a new USB-C standard, but a proprietary take on magnetic attachment around a compatible port.

If the idea catches on, it could prove more practical than separate power connectors: the laptop keeps the benefits of a magnetic cable without sacrificing one of its ports for it.