Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous
2016-05-11T07:37:37+00:00

I've been using Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for a year, and shortly after the warranty expired I noticed my Surface Pro 3 can only last about 1-2 hours after a full charge. At first I thought this was a problem with background process draining the battery so I disabled everything running in the background. It didn't helped. Then I found out about the powercfg utility and run powercfg /batteryreport on it, and this was the result:

A full charge capacity has degraded by over 80% in just few weeks and continue degrading. I tried to "recalibrate" the battery by doing full charge then full drain multiple times, and it didn't helped. Talk with Microsoft via chat support and they insist this was a software problem and reinstalled the driver and asked me to wait few days to see if things improve. Not only it didn't improved, but now my Surface can only last 30 minutes.

Few days after chat (today), I called Microsoft support and they were being extremely unhelpful. Insist that this was a software problem (which the chat support person already did) and it's "perfectly normal" for battery capacity to degrade. I insist that I've already done the software "fixes" and it didn't work and tell them this is definitely hardware problem, but the person on the phone tell me there's nothing I could do except to order the out of warranty exchange (which cost about $560 in my local currency). 

Is there anything else I should do? My country has no Microsoft Store which I could take the machine for them to take a look. Phone/online support were the only option, and none of them could understand the issue.

Surface | Surface Pro | Power and battery

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Anonymous
2016-07-26T21:31:16+00:00

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your continued patience here. We have now completed our testing of the update and it has passed our quality assurance process.

The update, “System Firmware Update - 8/29/2016”, is now available to install from Windows Update.

Before installing this update, ensure that your Surface Pro 3 is plugged directly in to AC power using the standard AC power adapter (do not use the Surface Docking Station), disconnect any USB devices or external monitors, and check that Windows shows a 40% charge or greater when you hover over the icon in the taskbar before you begin.

Once you install the update, please select Restart now (do not shutdown). After your Surface restarts, please manually restart it a second time to complete the process. For more information, please see our Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ article.

If you’re having trouble charging your Surface, you get a low-battery error, or your Surface turns off when you unplug it, the steps in our Surface battery won’t charge article can help you pinpoint the problem. Should you need any further assistance, please contact us. 

Thanks again.

Greg

Updated 8/29/16.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-08-05T12:34:31+00:00

    So basically Microsoft are still trying to profit from this & still putting it behind a $99 pay wall? Some devices are basically bricks at this point so no software fix will help those now. Can't believe I have to spell out good customer service to these morons:

    • Devices where battery is so dead device can't boot - allow customer to send in for FREE repair now
    • While the repaired devices could still suffer from this issue at least they would be working & able to apply fix
    • Those with devices still usable just keep us informed & provide some timeline for expected release of fix

    This isn't that difficult is it?  After all some of us have paid nearly $2,000 for these unusable devices.

    Don't bother tweeting Panos Panay, he doesn't use twitter except occasionally to remind us all how passionate he is about the engineering perfection of Surface.  Let's face it, if he used twitter he'd have to face up to what a disaster Surface actually is generation after generation.  To repeat there has never been a problem free Surface Pro device. Ever.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-05T11:51:17+00:00

    HP Spectre range looks very good.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-05T10:09:36+00:00

    Many of us are now totally bricked.  I have looked for a replacement as I need a computer, I need it now.  The Surface Pro 4 is way ahead of the rest.  I'm very uncomfortable buying Microsoft again.

    Anyone out there have a non-Microsoft, Windows 10, very thin replacement for the Surface Pro 3?

    I just can't wait now that my device is completely bricked.

    Steve

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-05T09:47:50+00:00

    I have the same problem simplo battery and a surface pro 3 which is about 20 months old. I use win 8.1 as I use my pro as a tablet almost exclusively. I merely wanted to register my problem to add to a growing list. I somehow feel its not a software related issue as I had updates turned off for over 12 months and just turned them on 5 days ago. Its worth noting majority of updates 'failed'. I couldn't be bothered to go through the hassle of fixing this. MS must think there customers are immortal.

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