Back last year, Microsoft announced its Surface USB-C dongle and said it would launch by the close of 2017. We celebrated Christmas and New Year’s and twiddled our thumbs, the dongle was not in sight. Microsoft missed its self-imposed launch window and it seems by quite some margin.
The company now says the Surface USB-C dongle will launch by the end of 2018. Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft confirmed the peripheral is “on the roadmap for later this year.”
Of course, considering the track record, we’ll take Microsoft’s statement with a pinch of salt. Still, it is good to know the company has not binned the product. The clear question is why such a delay (it would be a year late) for what is essentially an adaptor?
The peripheral will plug directly into the Surface Connect port and features a USB Type-C port on the other end.
Back when Microsoft announced the dongle in May, Surface head Panos Panay discussed Microsoft’s plans for USB Type-C:
“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.” Panos added, “If you love Type-C, it means you love dongles. We’re giving a dongle to people who love dongles.”
Dongle Launch Comes Late
As it stands, the Surface Book 2 is Microsoft lone hardware product to support USB-C. The adapter is for older Surface devices that lack the support. Of course, Microsoft is likely to bring USB-C to new Surface devices as ranges are upgraded.
If any new products land this year, it is likely they will not need the dongle. So, by time Microsoft launches the accessory, will it be useless to a growing subset of Surface users?
