Microsoft went on to innovate and provided their Windows based tablets with a kickstand and flexible Keyboard, well ahead of Apple's Magic Keyboard for iPad. Then Apple created the second generation Magic Keyboard for iPad that allowed for iPad to be placed on an angle, floating above the keyboard.

Now Microsoft is considering another advancement in an effort to outdo the iPad-keyboard combination by creating a device that could offer users tablet mode, Laptop mode and studio mode in one device. Its studio mode will use a newly invented hinge system that could solidly slant the display and angle it so as to support artists that could draw with a Surface Pen, much like their Surface Studio desktop does.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 1 below illustrates a tablet display that sits on top and hides the keyboard when in the closed position. The user will be able to push the display in a upwards motion and angle the display as the user so choses when in laptop mode, illustrated in-part in patent FIG. 2. In that mode, they achieve what Apple has with the Magic Keyboard for iPad, though with more flexibility to move the angle of the display versus Apple's locked in single angle.

In Microsoft's patent FIG. 3 , we see that the tablet device will be able to enter "Studio Mode" that will solidly hold the display at an angle supporting artists drawing with the Surface Pen. Microsoft's patent FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the device when closed.

According to Microsoft's patent application, In some embodiments, a computing device includes a laptop mode, where a base, such as a keyboard, is located in front of a display, and a viewing angle of the display is convenient for a user to view while typing on a keyboard and seated back from the computing device (such as generally vertically, or between 75° and 105° relative to the plane of the base). In a studio mode, the display may be located over the top of the base and may be convenient for a user to interact with (e.g., touch a touchscreen display using a finger or a stylus). In some embodiments, the computing device further moves  into a tablet mode. In the tablet mode, the display may cover an entirety of the base and the display may have a very low angle, such as an angle of less than 10°.

In some embodiments, the base #102 includes one or more input devices, such as a keyboard, a trackpad, a touch-sensitive input, a touchscreen display, other input devices, and combinations thereof. The display #104 may include one or more display devices, including a backlit display, a non-lit display, a touchscreen display, an LCD display, an LED display, and OLED display, a projected display, any other display, and combinations thereof.

Microsoft's patent application was published in Europe on February 8, 2023 under number 20720607.