Users are experiencing massive battery drain issues with Microsoft's new Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, though thankfully a possible fix has been found.
The bug is a serious one, with users reporting instances of placing their Surface Book or Surface Pro 4 devices on Standby mode in their bags and then later on, upon taking the devices out of the bag, discovering the Surface Book or Surface Pro 4 is unusually warm and its battery depleted.
It was discovered that when the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 are placed in the full standby mode, the devices instead do not enter the power-saving mode and just turn off their displays. This results in a decrease in battery of 12 percent per hour on some devices, with the additional problem of good heat dissipation if the Surface Book or Surface Pro 4 was placed in a bag.
While the cause for the power-draining bug was thought to be a faulty display driver for the new HD processor made by Intel used in the devices that never turns off, some users have reported that turning off the Windows Hello facial recognition system will save the battery of the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, and will also prevent the overheating issues that are associated with the problem.
Microsoft news website Windows Central said that it has noticed the IR cameras of the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 remained on in certain situations, along with other weird behavior that were addressed by disabling the components. It was also noted that the embargo review period on the devices did not contain any reports of battery drain issues, and this could be because the Windows Hello firmware was not yet released at the time.
Several users have tried the solution, and have verified that the fix works. However, not all users found success with the proposed fix, though of course it would not hurt to try it out.
To deactivate Windows Hello, users should enter the Accounts menu under Settings, and then select Sign-In Options. The Windows Hello option should be there, and disabling it requires only to hit the Remove button.
