There have been a lot of product launches in the past few months that it is possible you might have missed some of them. While the Microsoft and Windows fans might have seen the launch of the latest Surface products, it is possible many of you might not be aware. So Microsoft released a bunch of its Surface products such as the Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7 and the new Surface Pro X device. Microsoft also revealed its new hinge-based Surface Neo and Surface Duo devices which are the company’s foldable devices coming next year.

One notably product missing from the Microsoft Surface product announcement was the Surface Book 3 which was also slated for an updated version. Last year’s Surface Book 2 came with a laptop which can be detached from its keyboard to use in tablet mode too. Since the refresh to Surface Book did not arrive this year, some thought that the device might have been dropped from the lineup or delayed. Well, we think that Microsoft has chosen to adopt a 2-year cycle for this product as the company is expected to announce the Surface Book 3 next year.

Also, there are some interesting things in store for the next Surface Book as reported by Windows Latest. Same as last year, Microsoft Surface Book 3 will have a detachable keyboard but there will also be a “writing panel/notes making panel on the opposite side” as per this report. This means that there will be a separate area where you can write with the Surface Pen and not on the keyboard or tablet itself. Basically, the patent reveals that the keyboard will act as both a keyboard and a writing panel. If you flip the keyboard, you will find the area for writing notes or even drawing which might also be attachable for convenience.