USBC vs USB4 on surface

To identify USB-C and USB4 ports on a Surface device with the Snapdragon X Series processor, you can look for the following characteristics:

1. Port Design: Both USB-C and USB4 ports use the same physical connector type, which is a small, oval shape. This makes it challenging to visually differentiate them based solely on appearance.
2. Specifications: Check the specifications of your device. USB4 ports support higher data transfer rates (up to 40 Gbps) compared to standard USB-C ports (which can vary, but USB 3.2 typically offers up to 20 Gbps). If your device supports USB4, it will be mentioned in the technical specifications.
3. Functionality: USB4 ports are backward compatible with USB-C devices. If the port supports features like dual display output or higher power delivery, it is likely a USB4 port.
4. Device Documentation: Refer to the device's user manual or technical specifications online, which will specify which ports are USB-C and which are USB4. For example, the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro devices with Snapdragon processors typically have USB-C/USB4 ports that support charging, data transfer, and video output.
5. Labeling: Some devices may label the ports with icons indicating their capabilities, such as a lightning bolt for power delivery or a display icon for video output.

By checking these aspects, you should be able to identify the USB-C and USB4 ports on your Surface device.

Hi Michel Ghantous,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

On modern Surface devices, including those with Snapdragon® X processors, USB4 uses the same physical connector as USB-C. That means they are not separate physical ports.

From the image, you can see that Surface device has two physical ports, and each port is both USB-C and USB4 capable — you don’t have separate ports for each.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.