I have a Surface laptop (1st gen) and a Dell U3818DW monitor and I've spent my life wondering why it isn't showing 4k. After some trial and error, I found that my Dell dock was outdated and the only way around this was to connect the monitor directly to my Surface laptop via Mini DisplayPort. Not planning on finding a replacement for my laptop, I decided to purchase a Mini Display to DisplayPort cable. Needless to say it works like a charm and the cable is stiff but not stiff so it's easy to hide. Additionally, the DisplayPort end does not have a clip to snap into the connector, which can be annoying and makes it easy to detach and reposition when the situation calls for it. It's worth it and if I upgrade my laptop, this cable could still work with my friend's Macbook Air.