Microsoft wants to make the Surface Pro more stable, by adding more magnets of course

The biggest weakness of the Surface Pro has always been its lapability, ie. its ability to be stable on narrow and uneven surfaces such as your lap or an aeroplane seatback tray.

Microsoft has published a patent where they aim to address the issue, and of course, it uses more magnets for the trick.

Microsoft suggests in such circumstances it may be best to fold the detachable Surface keyboard backwards underneath your Surface Pro, to act as a large and rigid base, which would provide a flat surface for the kickstand.

One issue however is that the flexible hinge of the Surface keyboard would still allow a lot of movement when you touch the screen. Microsoft’s solution is to add more magnets to the hinge connector (105 above and 116 below) which would connect to oppositely polarized magnets on the back of the Surface keyboard or plates made of soft metal and thereby add some rigidity to the flexible hinge on the Surface keyboard.

Microsoft notes the existing magnets in the Surface connector could also be exposed such that they could connect to both the Surface Pro and the back of the Surface keyboard to perform the same duties.

The patent, which can be seen here, was filed on the 5th February 2020, and published on the 1st April 2021. Given that it does not sound too complicated we will hopefully see it find some real-world application in the future.

via Walkingcat