THE CRUNCH

Microsoft has built magnetic charging back into its laptop line, this time over USB-C. The Surface Laptop Ultra's charging cable attaches magnetically to the right-side USB-C port, a return to the convenience of the proprietary Surface Connect connector that the company dropped from its smaller Surface devices last year. At Microsoft's Windows event on Wednesday, Windows and Surface chief Pavan Davuluri said you can just "bring the connector close, and it snaps right into place."

It remains a proprietary solution, but with a twist: the port the magnetic connector slots into is a standard USB-C port that still works for video, data and other USB-C connectivity as normal.