Surface Pro 4, Screen Flickering, Shaking

Anonymous
2017-01-19T07:47:47+00:00

Hi All,

Update: Flickergate is now having a forum to bring all affected users at a single platform to plan for resolvement of issue. Please join at

 https://forum.flickergate.com

UPDATE: Check FlickerGate.com for videos of the problem and to submit your own. 

I purchased SP4 device a few months ago and it was working fine for a month. Then I noticed that when the CPU is at its max, the screen flickers a bit. Investigating further revealed that it flickers even if it is setting idle. It does not flicker if at least one of the following thing is done:

  1. A video being played in browser 
  2. If I keep the touch screen busy by either taping it or keeping a finger on it
  3. If I use the touchpad
  4. If keyboard is used for typing

This resulted in making the device completely unusable while reading articles or ebooks. I am a developer, most of the time I have to read the code and to do that, I have to constantly keep a finger on the touch pad or the screen. I contacted surface support in October and November and was told that the developers are working on the patch. Looking at the updates the developers are pushing since then, I don't think anyone is even aware of the problem there. 

My previous support ticket numbers are:

 ***deleted personally identifiable information***

***deleted personally identifiable information***

Just wondering if anyone else had the same problem (and the fix) and if not, what's the procedure for the refund? I will rather go for a mac then sacrificing $2000+ for a dancing screen.  

Kind Regards,

Abbas

***Personal information deleted by the moderator. Please see the Microsoft Community Frequently Asked Questions for more information on how you can protect your privacy.***

Surface | Surface Pro | Display and screen

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2018-05-11T17:59:00+00:00

Hey Everyone,

Creating the best products and experiences for our customers is our top priority.

We have heard your feedback and after careful examination, have determined that a small percentage of Surface Pro 4 devices are exhibiting a screen flicker that cannot be addressed with a firmware or driver update.

To support customers affected by this issue, we will replace eligible Surface Pro 4 devices for up to three years from the date of purchase, free of charge. If you believe your device is experiencing this issue, please visit our Surface Pro 4 screen flicker article for more details.

Bryan [MSFT]

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-05-31T21:24:08+00:00

    Hi Joseph,

    1. Has there been any progress with this?
    2. If not, would you be able to ask when any progress is expected to happen?
    3. Also as a side note, is there any chance at all that Microsoft would replace our shaking devices, or is that definitely not happening and we all just have to go out and buy new devices.

    It's been months now and it's very frustrating working on a device with this problem, but I also don't want to go out and buy a brand new one at full cost only to have Microsoft provide a solution for this the next week.

    Thanks,

    Sebastian

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-06-01T16:35:14+00:00

    Hi!

    I started to spread the news about this issue. Everyone should do it too.

    https://twitter.com/Diego\_Lorberg/status/870315947629977600

    https://twitter.com/Diego\_Lorberg/status/870288612151218176

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCamh7tdwCs

    There's probably more people with the problem. At least lets make people conscious about this.

    Regardas

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-06-03T07:55:05+00:00

    My SP4' screen starts to randomly flickers alot lately. I am pretty sure its due to over heating because it only happens when I watch HD movie or playing games for few hours. its getting much more worse now :(. I never had this problem before (I have been heavily using it for more than a year now).  Do you guys think this is cause by hardware or software issues? because if its a hardware issues then i might as well throw my SP4, since i dont have warranty anymore and I will never buy any surface products ever again!

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-06-04T02:26:22+00:00

    Hi!

    I'm encouraging everyone to share about this issue in the social networks, at least that way we make people conscious about it. It's been months with the issue and "they are still working on it". This is a premium device! in the same time they have developed a ton of services and even new products. Costumer services are important and we're not talking about a small company here. This is supposed to be a leading tech company. It's sad! these are the things that matter, this is how you make people to love your products, reliability not rhetoric.

    I know we're just a small portion of their costumer but this is how you change things, by setting an example. Caring!. Microsoft hasn't been transparent, nor communicative. As you will do and probably most of the people participating in this forum, I'm going away from anything Microsoft makes.

    The problem started when my device was on warranty Microsoft. I won't be paying any fee for your incompetence.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCamh7tdwCs

    https://twitter.com/Diego\_Lorberg/status/871183222234914816

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