
Why Doesn’t the Surface Laptop Have a USB-C Charger? - neverminder
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/05/why-the-hell-doesnt-the-surface-laptop-have-a-usb-c-charger/
======
stevehawk
I guess I'm an old fogey now (35) but I don't want a USB C charger. I want a
non data transferring power plug that can't be used to compromise my machine
should a manufacturer opt to do that. I also only use power bricks to charge
my phones/tablets at public charging places instead of the supplied USB
cables.

Are there power only Type C cables for charging? Is there some pressing need
to reduce the ports on the side of a laptop? I didn't buy the thing to be
stylish and impress women, I bought it to get shit done.

~~~
franciscop
Laptop chargers are not as mobile chargers; when you connect a USB, the USB
cannot just read the computer's data. It also cannot execute a program. This
all comes from USB sticks that got so infected. 0-days aside of course.

~~~
megous
Sure it can. All it needs to do that is to emulate a HID device and act as an
keyboard or mouse. You might notice when it starts opening cmd/shell and
typing commands, or not, or at least not fast enough. Or you may not
understand what's happening and ignore the black box that popped up for a
while on your desktop.

~~~
franciscop
While valid, that is a totally different scenario from what the OP wants to
protect from. I am just pointing out that when connecting a phone and a laptop
to an USB the _default_ is that phones are unsecure and laptops are secure-
ish. 0days, badUSB and all applies of course.

~~~
rblatz
My phone prompts me for access before it trusts a USB device, my computer
loads drivers for it, sometimes without prompting. This seems like the
opposite of the situation you describe.

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nailer
I like the surface connector. It's magnetic, plug a single cable in and you
get external displays, USB and power. If USB C had a magnetic version I'd
consider it.

~~~
ropiku
You can get the same from other kinds of USB-C docks, not just proprietary
Microsoft. Griffin makes magnetic USB-C cable if that's what you are looking
for and possibly other producers will start.

~~~
nailer
The Griffin magnetic USB C cables are just USB C -> proprietary magnetic
connector -> USB C.

See [https://images-na.ssl-images-
amazon.com/images/I/61M0YzqUbOL...](https://images-na.ssl-images-
amazon.com/images/I/61M0YzqUbOL._SX450_.jpg)

I have a proprietary magnetic connector now and I don't have a dongle sticking
out of the laptop.

~~~
cptskippy
That's a function of the cable and not the laptop. With MagSafe any MagSafe
charger will work. With that you only get protection when you bring your
Griffin Magnetic dongle with you and remember to use it.

~~~
nailer
I'm not quite sure what you're saying there, or what you think I said. Both
the laptop and the cable are required to support the surface connector, which
is better than USB C (it's magnetic) MagSafe (it's data as well as power) and
the griffin thing (it's data as well as power and it doesn't stick out)

~~~
cptskippy
Sorry I miss read your comment. I thought you were referring to the Griffin
connector as not sticking out.

------
rileymat2
Whenever I am fumbling around with the usb-c power on my MacBook Pro, I miss
MagSafe.

~~~
redler
Scratching that plug around the nearly featureless edge of the MBP is an
extremely unsatisfying experience, especially compared to the old "snick" of a
MagSafe plug practically attaching itself.

~~~
cptskippy
Form over function is just part of the Apple experience. Next you'll be
complaining about how the sharp edges of the MBP cut into your wrists or how
your have to use your pinkie to hit some of the touch targets in iOS.

------
ocdtrekkie
So, I have a Surface Pro 4, and for various things I have an Ethernet adapter,
a portable disc drive, flash drives, etc.

...Everything I want to plug into it is USB-A. I actually have a single USB-C
device, which is one of my wireless charging pads for my phone. The phone
itself is Micro-USB, and the wireless charging pad... it's own cable is
A-to-C.

I'd be really disappointed if I bought a laptop and it didn't have a USB-A
port, but USB-C is a trivial thing I do not need. I honestly think the
practical call if I have to pick one or the other is still USB-A.

That isn't to say this won't change in the future, but I don't feel we're at a
place where on a PC you can only fit one or the other you should be picking C.
It's just not there yet.

(And, as a SP4 owner, I'm glad Microsoft is still pushing SurfaceConnect, it
gives me hope my Surface crud won't all be useless soon.)

~~~
news_to_me
I mean, the laptop still has USB-A ports. It's just the charging port that's
discussed here – USB-C vs their proprietary charger.

~~~
lmm
Remember that port isn't just for charging, it's also used to connect to their
dock.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Arguably, the eventual Surface Phone could even use that connector and dock
setup.

------
cwyers
As lmm notes, the Surface Dock is a really nice peripheral that works with the
Surface charging port:

[https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-
surface/7098/hands...](https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/microsoft-
surface/7098/hands-on-with-surface-dock)

------
outside1234
Cost perhaps? I don't know about the pricing differential between the two, but
that's the simplest answer.

Also, if this is for an educational market, another answer might be
simplicity. Kids and teachers and parents likely didn't want to have to shell
out multiple times for lost dongles.

~~~
ropiku
I'm thinking the cost for not including Thunderbolt 3 (needs a chip, more
power, etc.) but not for missing USB-C.

~~~
ghostly_s
Don't Intel's latest chips have a couple TB3 busses included?

------
dimman
I've heard several stories about problems with USB-C to DisplayPort. To be
honest it's been one of my main concerns when looking for a new Ultrabook,
HDMI (as practically implemented) mostly doesn't work with 2560x1440 and
higher res external displays. Wonder if that's a reason to why they went with
USB type A and separate miniDP?

------
billpg
I miss barrel power connectors. (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_power_connector](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_power_connector)
)

Standardize a physical size and electrical characteristics and we're done. You
can plug one in the dark since there's no wrong way round. No data lines so no
worrying about security, just plug it in and you're charging up.

~~~
toast0
Unfortunately, that ship has sailed. The industry had years to decide on a
standard for this, but never even got to the point where one company would
standardize on a single charger for its whole product line for more than about
three years: most companies would do a full business line with compatible
chargers, but consumer laptops had something different, and when they did a
big hardware refresh, they'd change up the power connectors too.

~~~
cptskippy
> consumer laptops had something different

Or in Lenovo's case each consumer laptop has a different connector.

You'll be happy to know that they've also come full circle and the 2017
laptops are using barrel connectors again. All of the different sizes too.

------
rdl
I prefer power-only chargers, vs. data+power. If we train people to plug their
devices into two-way data ports unthinkingly, bad stuff will happen.
Realistically if you give someone a USB charger, they'll eventually use USB to
another device. With HID profiles being unlocked except in very locked down
enterprise environments, doom.

(This can be solved by hardware/OS people, though.)

~~~
baldfat
> If we train people to plug their devices into two-way data ports
> unthinkingly, bad stuff will happen.

It can't go wrong if EVERYTHING is USB-C this is what our future is going to
look like.

------
ksk
The article could be summed up by the title itself. It doesn't seem to provide
much else.

~~~
ghostly_s
No kidding. Since when is 500 words restating a one-sentence question
considered an 'article'? Reads like a book report by a 6th-grader who forgot
to read the book.

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rbanffy
There is little upside for Microsoft in having USB-C on their laptop.
Peripheral support is still small and adopting it could be interpreted as
validating Apple's choice and further drive availability of devices Apple
laptops could use.

~~~
mattnewton
I don't really understand that? USB c happened outside apple devices first,
and its usage is going to grow. If you still have the old style USB ports, you
have a device that is more peripheral compatible than the current MacBook,
while being just as future proof, no?

~~~
zyx321
There was just no room in the design for it.

Replacing USB-A would hurt backwards compatibility.

Replacing MiniDP would lead users to expect Thunderbolt 3 functionality

Replacing the proprietary power/dock connector would brand it as a cheaper
second-class device along the lines of the non-pro Surface 3

------
treebeard901
What does USB stand for again? Maybe it's time to admit defeat and start the
whole universal process over.

~~~
baldfat
Why is USB-C not becoming Universal?

I don't see the defeat. You can use the port for power, display, file
transfer, printing, networking?

