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
    2016-08-23T20:36:59+00:00

    Agreed. 

    The other day my surface pro 4 bumped into a reboot loop, and I drive 60 miles to the closest MS store in Bridgewater, NJ.

    Even with an appointment and stayed within warranty, they did not provide me the 15min diagnose they promised on their website. I along with my SP4 just hanged there for 30 mins alone and the tech never appeared. 

    Their last solution was to either have my SP4 stay in store for fix and let me pick it up myself after one - two weeks or have me ship it back to MS for a new replacement. 

    So software issue I assume regarding this forever reboot? This is not the issue, while their bad attitude is. We are loyal users who paid premium price under the call from Panos Panay that Surface can replace your laptop, not the white mouse in the lab who is affordable to compensating their mistakes. 

    Surface to me is like a product whose software and hardware are designed by completely different companies.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-08-23T21:00:19+00:00

    Doesn't seem so. I just installed it and it didn't do anything for me. Here's a list of what got fixed:

    August 23, 2016 — KB3176934 (OS Build 14393.82)

    This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update. Key changes include:

    • Improved reliability of Network Controller, DNS server, gateways, Storage Spaces Direct, Group Managed Service Accounts, remote procedure calls (RPC), PowerShell, Internet Explorer 11, printer pairing and interoperability, the Windows kernel, Media Core, Windows Store, Connected Standby, Cluster Health service, the Hypervisor debugger and platform, and Active Directory.
    • Improved performance of Storage Spaces Direct with many nodes or disks, scrolling lists on Xbox One, DHCP address acquisition, Active Directory queries, and Cluster Health service.
    • Addressed issue that prevents external media from playing on Xbox One using Cast to Device.
    • Addressed issue with Mouse events not working correctly in Internet Explorer 11.
    • Addressed issue with the rendering and resizing of nested tables in Internet Explorer 11.
    • Addressed issue with the UI layout not updating correctly in Internet Explorer 11 quirks mode.
    • Addressed issue that was causing nodes to be disconnected from a Cluster service intermittently.
    • Addressed issue with the 3G and 4G options not appearing correctly in Windows 10 Mobile settings.
    • Addressed additional issues with mobile device management (MDM) enrollment for an Azure Active Directory tenant, software compatibility, rendering of Yu Gothic fonts, Cortana, slow connections to cluster shares, Xbox One unable to launch the Netflix app using the DIAL protocol, Xbox One volume and music playback, all video stops while audio plays in a TV app, incorrect scaling of Internet Explorer 11 first-run dialog, driver setup, Windows Update for Business, apps failing to install after resetting device, boot failure with Hyper-V and BitLocker enabled, Cache Manager, Cluster Health service, inability to change roles and features on a locked device, disk-to-enclosure mappings not working, PowerShell, missing lock screen image, fitness tracker not recognized as a mass storage device, synchronization not working between Intune and Azure Active Directory (AAD), Skype calls over Wi-Fi, streaming playback using progressive download, unable to cancel download from Windows, extensions for Microsoft Edge, incorrect lock screen UI after resuming from hibernate and sleep, and blocked installation of game bundles from the Windows Store.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-08-23T22:46:54+00:00

    Looks like the fix arrived too late for me. If one ever does arrive. SP3 has been suffering from an ever dwindling battery, for the last 3 months it has not been able to function without a power supply connected. Capacity fell off a cliff in April. Now its finally bricked as it has insufficient juice to even boot. Great product but wont be buying another SP as the quality let it down.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-08-23T22:59:13+00:00

    Looks like the fix arrived too late for me. If one ever does arrive. SP3 has been suffering from an ever dwindling battery, for the last 3 months it has not been able to function without a power supply connected. Capacity fell off a cliff in April. Now its finally bricked as it has insufficient juice to even boot. Great product but wont be buying another SP as the quality let it down.

    I agree, I loved the SP3, it changed how I was able to perform at school, OneNote was a huge help as far as software, and I was just proud to have such a cool device amongst all the repetitive Macs I see in class. Now I get it though because now I look around in class at all the people with Macs that still work meanwhile my SP3 not two years later is a brick. Guess Ill be saving for another laptop as well the 1300 I spent on this brick could have gone into a Mac that would have lasted much longer it seems. Even another device with Windows on it such as the Spectre would be less expensive and would probably have better customer support. The iPad pro is appealing now that it can use Office as well.

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