For workloads where the Radeon 780M is not sufficient, the MS-A1, like most recent mini PCs, incorporates an OCuLink connector that allows eGPU connections with significantly lower performance compared to Thunderbolt 4, thanks to the lanes PCIe 4.0 x4 of the former with much higher transfer speeds (5 GB/s vs. 8 GB/s).
As for connectivity options, the MS-A1, like its Intel-based sibling, features a healthy list of ports including 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2x USB 2.1, 1x Type-C. C (Power Delivery, DisplayPort), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 2.0, and an audio combo jack. However, unlike the MS-01, 10G Ethernet is suspiciously absent, so customers will have to make do with a single 2.5G Ethernet port.
There’s no word yet on pricing or availability, but we can expect more details in the coming weeks. However, since the MS-01 typically retails for around $549, one would argue that the MS-A1 will most likely be priced similarly.
