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
    2016-08-15T12:57:54+00:00

    Hello Greg,

    can you please respond, or if you have been gagged by your management, escalate the issue so someone responds with an update?

    I have 4 Surface Pros (Pro 1, Pro 2, 2x Pro 3) - the Pro 1 & Pro2 still maintain their charge despite being quite old now. Both Pro 3s have the same issue and now can only be used when connected to the charger.

    I just got of chat with Microsoft Support and they "acknowledge" that there is an issue with the batteries, and offered me replacement units at a cost of £333.33 each (I am in the UK). However they could not confirm if the replacements units would not have the same issue, and actually said there is a likelihood of them having the same issue and best to wait for a fix. They have received several of my battery reports confirming the degradation over the last few weeks as evidence.

    Now I am a supporter of Microsoft and love the Surface, and would rather wait for a fix, but you (or your management) really need to get ahead of this and give some indication of a fix. It will put the community's fears to rest if you do. The silence, as you can see from these posts, means people who reply on their Surface are now very worried they have invested in the wrong item.

    As I said a fix is preferred, if that is even technically possible.

    We all look forward to your reply.

    N.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-15T13:13:36+00:00

    Hi Greg,

    I can not detach from the powerplug in the wall and when executing CPU hungry applications, it just shuts down the SP3.

    Examples are Bing Maps or Google Maps. Lowering the screen intensity, I was able to use these sites.  And my sight is not that good to view information at 25% brightness.

    One thing is: Microsoft is aware and the other is: estimated timeframe towards a solution. 

    Just because I am part of a limited number of customers, does this problem get the needed attention to be solved promptly? 

    Thank you.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-15T13:13:41+00:00

    I'm in the same situation; where previously I was in a position to use the surface only on AC power and wait for Microsoft to issue a fix or a recall, it's now at the critical stage where my Surface sometimes won't even stay on while in the AC dock. I suspect at this rate of decline, it will be unusable within a week. This means

    -not being able to download and update if MS do release a fix (a possibility that is looking ever more unlikely)

    -not being able to work, as this is my work computer. The process of buying a new laptop, installing all the various software, and therefore accepting the financial liability for MS's inability to fix the problem, is huge.

    Please would it be possible for MS to issue some kind of response to the situation beyond 'we think we might know maybe, we're looking at a fix sort of'. For affected users, the problem has become critical, and we need to know some sort of timescale over which this may be solved.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-15T14:03:08+00:00

    Hello Greg,

    can you please respond, or if you have been gagged by your management, escalate the issue so someone responds with an update?

    Greg now loads grocery carts at the end of the register conveyor belt. He tried to provide some customer service and help those who are suffering from this device defect, which is not company policy. Instead of waiting for the lawyers to determine whether attempting to fix or just paying damages from a lawsuit would be cheaper, he offered the potential for a fix, which the marketing team considered detrimental to their $450 refurb purchase program, boosted by this defect.

    As a correction to this, Microsoft has deployed the marketing team to encourage "Microsoft MVPs" and "Windows Insider" subscribers to hit the forums with pro Microsoft responses to play down the issues and undo Greg's mistake.

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