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
    2016-08-19T18:38:42+00:00

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-19T18:46:59+00:00

    They will steal my lightroom license, photos or what? No other use for that dedicated travel gear.

    Also, you have no idea what MS or any other corporation is collecting about you...

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-19T18:55:38+00:00

    Of course, this will be welcome news when the update is provided. And I think we all understand that you are not prepared to commit to a specific and firm date. But I am sure you can also understand our frustration under these circumstances and a bit more transparency would cost you nothing and would be so greatly appreciated by your customer base. 

    Is this something that will likely happen in a matter or days or weeks or months? We are not the enemy and do not want to be. We just want to be treated like good paying customers who merit some respect. Please provide just that little bit more of helpful information.

    Thank you.

    Totally agree. Information is free, and can save massive headaches and customer dissatisfaction!

    I think saying "hold off on replacing your SP3s" BEGS the question of whether it will be days, weeks or months. It would be different if we weren't all basically sitting on a totally nonfunctional brick. 2 updates in 90+ thread pages spanning months is not acceptable.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-19T19:10:55+00:00

    This is dead on Sev O.  "Greg's" post provided no information at all other than to say that no one should consider replacing their SP3 because MS is STILL working on it.  Rather than forcing us all to wait for this update that has no specific, or even vague, details as to when it can be expected, MS should have replaced each of our devices by now.  It's been months.  They could turn around and sell the refurbed units once the update is complete and delivered.  Every single owner of the SP3 with this battery issue should be outraged at the way this has been bungled by Microsoft on every single level.  I have bought in fully to MS and the UWP approach owning a Lumia 950 XL (my fourth Windows Phone), Surface Pro 3, Surface RT, Xbox One...I am sorely regretting considering this platform my best option, not because of a failed battery or faulty hardware , which I can understand happens, or even the OS itself which I am very happy with both on PC and Mobile, but because of the Microsoft's poor customer service and communication which is worse than Comcast in my opinion.  "Greg" might as well have posted an emoji flipping us off.  It would have amounted to the same.

    Actually, this wasn't my comment. I think that Greg's update is welcome news and provides additional details vs the post in July. As long as a fix comes out in a couple of weeks, I'm good.

    Sev

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