Microsoft Reveals Surface-Branded Thunderbolt 4 Dock
Laptops offer a unique balance between productivity and portability, with modern, efficient processors and offering buckets of performance in a compact form factor. Microsoft's Surface lineup contains perhaps some of the Windows world's best examples of portable productivity-orientated portable devices, even if the laser focus on portability and design does force some compromises that irk power users.
Laptop docking stations help solve some of the biggest shortcomings of laptops, and Microsoft's new Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock does that about as well as one could hope. The new dock brings extra USB ports — of both the USB Type-C and Type-A variety that are so sorely lacking on all of Microsoft's mobile Surface devices — as well as a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port for those concerned about connection stability and security.
Along with expanding your ports selection, the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock is can deliver up to 96 W to the connected laptop via the Thunderbolt 4-enabled USB Type-C cable, meaning owners of all but the most powerful mobile Surface devices can use the dock as part of a one-cable solution.
Thunderbolt 4 enables fast data transfer and excellent flexibility
Microsoft's Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock features a total of three USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, three USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet jack, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Using the available Thunderbolt 4 ports, users of the dock can connect up to two 4K monitors running at up to 60 Hz. 40 Gbps data transfer speeds on Thunderbolt drives make offloading large amounts of data fast and easy, making a dock like this ideal for creative types.
There are a few nice touches to the Thunderbolt 4 Dock, too. The raised bumps above the rear-mounted ports help users find ports quickly and accommodate people with reduced mobility or poor vision. The screw nut for desk mounts and Thunderbolt 4's wake-on-input capability enables configuring a proper workstation around the dock. While the Thunderbolt 4 Dock is designed around devices with Thunderbolt 4 ports, like the Surface Pro 8, Surface Laptop Studio, and Surface Laptop 5, it will also work over USB 4 with devices that have older USB Type-C ports.
The Microsoft Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock is available from Microsoft at $299.99.