One of the few complaints I’ve heard about since Microsoft’s announcements of the Surface Laptop and the new Surface Pro, is the “surprising lack” of a USB Type C and Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. In an interview with The Verge, Panos Panay of Microsoft’s Devices division had this to say in regards to excluding USB-C/Thunderbolt from the latest Surface products:

“I love the technology in Type-C, I believe in Type-C. When Type-C is ready for our customers, to make it easy for them, we’ll be there. If you love Type-C, it means you love dongles, we’re giving a dongle to people who love dongles.”

So, instead of Microsoft charging forward with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 on their latest Surface devices, they’ve decided to stick with the tried and true USB 3.0 and Displayport:

“The last thing I want is to take away the port they need today and tomorrow and the next day, to achieve a technology milestone where I then put a barrier in front of my customers. A dongle or an adaptor or a cable that didn’t work because it was Thunderbolt or wasn’t Thunderbolt or I bought the wrong peripheral or I tried to charge it with my phone charger but it wasn’t enough to charge my device all day. Those are those moments.”

In short, Microsoft believes that USB-C and Thunderbolt are the future, but the future isn’t worth it right now, because so many of their customers still rely on standard USB Type A devices and peripherals. To satisfy their users who are clamoring to make the switch, Microsoft will be releasing a USB-C and Thunderbolt ready dongle as a stop-gap for early adopters and aficionados.

The latest Surface Pro sticks with USB 3.0 and a DisplayPort — Source: MIcrosoft

The Enterprise

While the rapid rise of the Surface line of products over the past four years has Microsoft focusing more on consumers, Microsoft continues to be a business-first company. The enterprise, has and continues to be Microsoft’s bread and butter — so while many consumers would love to see the latest Surface products ditch USB-3 and the DisplayPort in favor of USB-C and Thunderbolt connections, it doesn’t make sense for the vast majority of Surface customers at this time. The enterprise simply isn’t ready for USB-C, and the Surface line of products is prioritized for the business market.

The new Surface Laptop has USB 3.0 and a DisplayPort — Source: DigitalTrends

The Surface Pro is and continues to be a business-first device, which just happens to also appeal to a large number of consumers. The “Pro” in the Surface Pro line stands for “Professional” after all, meaning that businesses users are their priority audience. To this end, there are hundreds of thousands of business conference rooms worldwide, where only a tiny percentage are equipped with Thunderbolt connectivity — which plays a huge role in Microsoft’s decision to stray away from Thunderbolt.

DisplayPort to VGA Adapters are a staple in many business conference rooms.

As for the DisplayPort, as an enterprise consultant for Microsoft for more than three years, I worked in hundreds of conference rooms across the United States, and the vast majority of them were still only equipped with VGA projectors. Conference room projectors have a long lifespan, and they aren’t generally a priority for replacement or upgrade for most businesses. For this reason, nearly every conference room I’ve stepped in over the past 5–7 years has had a DisplayPort to VGA adapter on the conference room table.

Obviously my sample size isn’t scientific, but I believe that the enterprise being slow to adopt USB-C is likely the main reason for Microsoft to continue with USB-3 and DisplayPort on Surface devices.

Peripherals

While USB Type-C peripherals are gaining traction, they are still a miniscule percentage of the total number of USB-based peripherals on the market today. Consumers and businesses already own billions of USB Type-A devices and peripherals. Everything from mice, keyboards, webcams, microphones, hard drives, flash drives, card readers, network cards, bluetooth radios, and far too many more to list.

USB Type A is still king of the peripheral world.

I’m a gadget junkie and chronic early adopter and the only USB-C device I own is my Google Pixel XL. I own a handful of USB Type A to USB-C cables, while the only native USB-C cable I own is the one that came with my phone. Like many others, the main reason I am slow to adopt USB-C is because USB 3.0 to USB Type-C connections offer nearly the same performance. Upgrading all of my existing USB 3.0 Type A devices to USB Type-C simply isn’t a priority for me, and likely isn’t for most other consumers — even if they had access to a USB-C port on their Surface device.

The latest Surface Pro sticks with USB 3.0 and a DisplayPort — Source: MIcrosoft

On the business side, it doesn’t take but a few minutes of number crunching to help wrap your head around the investment in USB Type-A devices in the business world. A global corporation with tens of thousands of employees could have hundreds of thousands of USB Type A devices and peripherals out in the wild, and replacing those isn’t a cheap endeavour. So while a consumer may only have a handful of USB peripherals to upgrade, businesses have so much more to take into consideration. All new costs could affect the bottom line of the business as a whole, or at the very least have an impact on budget strapped IT departments.

The Future

The writing's on the wall about USB-C, and there is consensus among consumers and others in the industry. To this end, Microsoft knows that USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are the future — but right now they feel that it is in the best interest of their customers to stick with the classic USB Type-A connection and DisplayPort on their Surface devices. As such, this isn’t a case of Microsoft being afraid to adopt new technologies, it is a case of Microsoft taking into consideration the ramifications of making such a drastic change for their millions of potential Surface customers.