“We are aware of some customers reporting a scenario with their Surface Pro 3 batteries in which the system is reporting lower battery capacity than expected”. This issue was reported back in May, and so more than enough time for Microsoft to build up enough evidence that something needs to be done, especially as there have been a huge number of complaints on their forum section.
Advertisement
Reportedly, Microsoft’s partner for its processors, Intel, is having some issues with the assembly of the Kaby Lake, the seventh-gen chipsets said to feature in new Surface products.
Regarding those users who are reporting being charged by Microsoft Support for investigating their Surface Pro 3 battery problems, a Microsoft spokesperson said this is not correct policy. Surface revenue increased $76 million or 9%, primarily driven by the release of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book in the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, offset in part by a decline in revenue from Surface Pro 3 and Surface 3. The company has confirmed there are no issues with the batteries themselves and are “working through the details” on how to deliver a software-based fix. Microsoft went with LG and SIMPLO batteries for the Surface Pro 3 and it appears for now that the issues are limited to units with SIMPLO batteries.
Advertisement
Other posters said that when they contacted Microsoft support via phone, they were told that they would have to pay to have the batteries replaced. Since the major update will be completed in 2017, it is reasonable for Microsoft to finish its major software updates first before coming out with new hardware lineups. The next firmware update could help fix this, but don’t expect it sooner than next month.
