The Labs Web Team at LTT Labs took a close look at Microsoft’s Magnetic Connect, announced October 7th as a feature of the Surface Laptop Ultra. It is a magnetic breakaway charging connection built into a USB-C port. When the Magnetic Connect cable is not attached, the port works as a full USB4 40 Gbps USB-C port.

The team ran the cable plug through a Lumafield CT scanner. The plug’s barrel flares out about 1 mm near the base and is about 4.9 mm long, compared to 6.65 mm for a standard USB-C plug. Scallops are cut into the sides, likely to keep the port tongue from shearing when the cable is pulled at an angle. The flare means the Magnetic Connect plug will not fit a normal USB-C port.

Half the pins are omitted, but D+/D- are present and the USB PD SOP Prime packets read with a CY4500-EPR declare USB 2.0 compatibility. A USB-C mouse worked.…