Since the original Surface Book debuted in 2015, its main selling point has been its status as a true 2-in-1 PC: the screen physically detached from the performance base, with a basic lightweight tablet, GPU and spare battery in you get both a powerful notebook PC.

According to Bowden's sources, this will not be the case with the next-generation Surface Book. Instead, the new model will have a non-removable display, and the separable tablet format will be completely removed.

If true, what makes the new Surface Book different from every other powerful laptop on the market? This is where Bowden gets into more speculative territory, but if correct, there is no doubt that this computer will hold its own in the marketplace.

Bowden points to a recent patent and speculates that Microsoft will use a new hinge mechanism that allows the screen to be held securely at different angles with a built-in stand; similar to the Surface Studio, the screen can be pulled forward or pulled back with the Surface Pen can be rotated so that it is almost completely flat for drawing with the Surface Pen.

This would not only bring an advantage in terms of flexibility, but also another benefit: a more powerful chip. The current Surface Book series can only accommodate U-series processors due to the breakaway design where the CPU is built into the tablet portion. In an all-in-one build, Microsoft could put a six- or eight-core processor in the Surface Book to make it a bit more powerful.

As for power, Windows Central sources say the new version will feature Nvidia RTX graphics and a dynamically adjusted, high-refresh rate 14-inch panel. The trackpad will also be larger this time around.

Because of the dramatic change in design, Bowden said the device will probably not be branded Surface Book, but instead will be called Surface Laptop Studio or Surface Laptop Pro.

While there is nothing concrete regarding a release date, Bowden has heard that Microsoft will hold a hardware event in the fall as usual, and speculates that it could be in October as usual. If so, the new Surface Book would be one of the first devices to run Windows 11, along with the Surface Pro 8, which is expected to launch around the same time.

The report is a mixture of well-informed insider information and speculation, but it is certainly credible. Not only is the patent in Microsoft's name, but if the company is content to kill the Surface Book's main USP, it stands to reason that something else must be in the works.