Surface 4 Pro screen bulging at lower left edge and separated from the frame

Hi All

I have given up on the pursued of this issue. As much as I hate to do this, Microsoft truly not owning up to this situation shows how little they care. As you all can see, so many with the same issue.

As for my laptop, already looking else where. a and looking to company that cares and provide better services for their long term customers.

I do suggest you all do the same. No point staying with someone that cares very little for their customers. I do feel everyone of us all have legit issue. Thank you all for all your suggestion.

I know my SP4 is out of warranty. I purchased this back in 2016, and like most folks here my Pro works just fine. The only issue is with the detachment of the screen, which makes me believe the SP4 should be considered a recall item, especially if this is a battery issue and can explode or combust. What number can I call to get a replacement or refurbished SP4?

I'm having the same issue, an expanding and separating of the lower left area of my surface pro 4 screen, from back. It also feels like its not just an empty bulge, but rather hard parts pushing it out (the battery expanding?). So encouraged by the responses in this thread, I called Microsoft support who was very responsive. Nevertheless because the computer is about 5 years old and the warranty long expired, they are not going to replace it.. 

The best option they could offer was to replace it for a similar model for half the current retail price. So a refurbished surface pro 4 for around 600 euros. No thanks.

I'd rather buy a new one for a few hundred more The question is now, if I would risk another expanding battery. Or get another brand. I have never seen this issue before. While I understand MS policy here (it's a old computer and out of warranty), this is nevertheless a workmanship issue. Disappointed.

Doubt this is the solution, even tho MS now (after all these years) says not to leave AC adaptor on.

People I know who have replaced the swollen battery with a new, exact OEM one says even tho they only plug in when in use, the back gets hot after 2 hours heavy use (eg playing a video file) and weird screen artifacts occur, such as a ghost image that stays on even after a hard reset (!!!) or flickering or jittering. In all such cases, the back needs to cool down to get rid of the problem.

This suggests charging circuitry has a design flaw, or that the heat dispersal system isnt powerful enough. In any case, BAD!

No wonder Consumer Reports issued a NOT RECOMMENDED, after this POS managed to rack up the most complaints in  survey of laptop owners.

I have been the victim of bulged batteries in 3, yes 3 Surface Books. The first time was about 3 years ago in my 1 TB super spec'd out SB1. I received a replacement at no charge (but great inconvenience). Last spring, in the middle of the lockdown, my replacement 1TB bulged again - Microsoft was unreachable. I bought my wife a new Samsung laptop and took over her 500 GB SB1. Shortly after that, the screen on that one bulged too.

I talked to lawyers about a possible class action suit, armed with all these emails. Two law firms concluded that with the arbitration agreement and smart Microsoft lawyers, all I could do was go to arbitration and hope for the best. I called Microsoft to see what they could do - they got me a refurbished SB1 500 TB replacement for $500.

But now the interesting part. Shortly after getting the replacement, I found the following URL's (google for more if desired) showing how to limit the smaller battery in the clipboard to 50% state of charge. The bigger battery is in the keyboard unit, so I still get over 90% state of charge available.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/battery-limit#:~:text=Mode%20to%20On.-,Enabling%20battery%20limit%20on%20Surface%20Go%20and%20Surface%20Go%202,set%20Battery%20Limit%20to%20Enabled.

https://surfacetip.com/enable-battery-limit-feature-on-surface-devices/

What was different in my application than my wife's is that I have a Surface docking station, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to stay with Surface. It is always plugged into AC, with the batteries staying at 100% state of charge. I am an electrical engineer, with experience with automotive lithium batteries before I retired. Being fully charged stresses a battery. I suspect with the clipboard battery being limited in size, Microsoft pushed the limits of charge to get a longer battery life in clipboard mode. A similar situation exists on the Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. There have been 5 battery fires due to a small number of defective batteries. As an interim recall, GM is limiting the Bolt EV battery to 90% state of charge until a better diagnostic and fix can be found.

With the clipboard battery limited to 50% state of charge, I am quite confident I am finally rid of the bulged screen / defective battery issue. **I wish Microsoft had recognized the problem earlier, and like the auto industry, had sent notifications and initiated a recall. It could have simply been to limite the clipboard battery to 50% as in the URL's above. Very disappointed in Microsoft for this.**Maybe at some point, like the auto industry (reference Tesla display screens all failing as each trip "eats away at the total capacity of the the 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory chip onboard the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor that powers the [Tesla] displays."), I hope Microsoft will issue a recall and reimburse those who have already been affected, but don't hold your breath.