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
    2016-08-02T05:45:21+00:00

    Greg, 

    For what it's worth, I have TWO surface pro 3's, and BOTH are doing this. They are absolutely useless unless plugged in. As soon as power is disconnected, they die. Both have the SIMPLO batteries. 

    I think the use of the term "limited number of customers" is a bit disingenuous. Certainly there's not an INFINITE number of customers, so by definition the number must be "limited," but this is clearly a widespread issue. 

    Without reading through 40 pages of this thread, what does Microsoft want owners to do with their (basically useless) Surface Pro 3s? Should we monitor this thread, or is there a better way to keep abreast of what's happening and what remedy Microsoft will offer?

    Would you advise others to join the class action effort, in the meantime?

    Not trying to stir the pot, but with two of these devices, it's a little frustrating. 

    Thanks, 

    Robert

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-02T02:47:40+00:00

    I have the same problem, When I unplug the power the computer shuts off immediately.

    It really started to go downhill after an update in May.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-02T02:33:59+00:00

    I am having the same issues. I checked to see if I could download the update but I don't see it. 

    Thank you

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-02T02:25:18+00:00

    It does seem like the battery controller IC is packaged together with the cells https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+3+Teardown/26595#s66315

    Huh, right you are. Interesting. If that is the case, I am wondering how the firmware for that IC would be updatable while installed in the machine. The next steps by MS will be very interesting on this.

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