Surface Pro 3 battery degradation

Anonymous

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.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

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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1,459 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-08-27T14:00:27+00:00

Hi,

I read about the battery problem but my Surface is always connected, until yesterday when I went to a meeting and my laptop was on standby but was full charged before hand i.e. 100%. When I opened it to take a photo of a whiteboard, it notified me that I had 10% left! By the time I started the camera app (seconds later), I got notified again that I had 6% left and by the time I pointed the surface towards the whiteboard, my SP3 switched off!!

Today, I've just turned on my SP that was plugged in all night and it went from 100% to 25% in less than 5 minutes. This is a serious, serious issue Microsoft! I may has well have a desktop if I can only use it when plugged in! I see this issue was reported more than 2 months ago and while you've acknowledge it's a software issue, all well in good, it's still leaves many people with a useless machine unless you're willing to carry your charger every where you go! Can you not provide an exact date as to when this patch will be released???

My OS build is 14393.82

Thanks.
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Anonymous

2016-08-27T14:02:26+00:00

It seems that Microsoft used a bad battery that fails shortly after the warranty period. Planned obsolescence!

The battery won't hold a charge so I can't use it if not plugged in. Microsoft promised to replace my surface for just under $500. I reluctantly agreed. They charged my credit card immediately. They told me they would ship me the new surface and I was to return the old one in the box containing the new one. Today, I found out that they want my old surface back BEFORE they will ship me the new one! No regard for all of my files and applications. What a stupid "policy". I cancelled the entire order and will go shop for a new PC that ISN'T Microsoft. Different answers from different agents and Microsoft didn't stand by their product. Very disappointing.
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Anonymous

2016-08-27T14:06:08+00:00

Yet another ME TOO! Microsoft won't stand by the battery. Seems to me that they have planned obsolence as the battery fails shortly after the warranty period expires. How clever! They promised to send me a new surface for $477. They didn't. Today, they called and told me that I have to send them my old surface BEFORE they will ship the new one. What happens to all of my files and applications? No response! I cancelled my order and will go buy a non-Microsoft PC this weekend. What a screwy messed up situation this is with Microsoft. VERY DISAPPOINTED. Doesn't seem that they care.
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Anonymous

2016-08-27T14:28:38+00:00

My Surface Pro 3 is also having battery issues. it shows full charge but when unplugged dies.. this started quickly in July.

When will the software update be available?
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