The situation regarding the Surface Pro 3 and its battery draining problem has turned into a saga. The story has stretched through the summer and caused controversy. However, Microsoft has released a firmware update that finally addresses the problem.
You may remember last month users started complaining about worse than normal battery degradation. The Surface Pro 3 was dropping battery life quickly, mostly under one hour. Users noted that devices with SIMPLO batteries were more frequently affected.
Of course, battery degradation for li-on juicers is common. It is par for the course in fact. However, this kind of rapid decline is worrying. It was especially concerning considering the degradation of the Surface Pro 3 coincided with the device ending its warranty cycle.
Microsoft was quick to respond and say that it would conduct an investigation into the problem. However, the company said it would not pay for fixes with replacement units. The best offer from Redmond was to reduce the price of a replacement to $500.
Problem Solved
Just last week the company said that a permanent software fix would arrive in the ‘coming weeks’. The company has lived up to that promise with a firmware release. The company updated a FAQ regarding the issue explaining the software problem that caused the battery draining problem:
“Think of this like a fuel gauge in a car, where the car looks to the fuel gauge to determine how much to fill the tank,” Microsoft says. “In this case, if the fuel gauge isn’t working right, the car would also not be able to fill the tank — even though the tank is fine.”
The company explains that the firmware sorts out the issue. However, the issues will take “several charge and discharge cycles” before self-correcting.
Last Updated on April 9, 2020 12:00 pm CEST