Microsoft is officially rolling out an update for the Surface Pro 3 that addresses the battery drain issues, making the day of those who got ahold of a faulty device.
First acknowledging the issue back in July and following up with a response earlier this August, the company made it clear that the problem doesn't lie in the hardware but in the software, and that's why the over-the-air firmware update fixes the matter at hand.
"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," Microsoft announces via the community forums.
As a reminder, the company advises users to make sure that their Surface Pro 3 is plugged in with the AC power adapter and not the Surface Docking Station, disconnect USB devices and external monitors and confirm that it has more than 40 percent of juice left before starting the update process.
After the installation is complete, the Redmond company says to click on the "Restart now" button, and once the 2-in-1 laptop has booted right up, users should manually restart it to completely finish the update without a hitch.
Microsoft explains the battery drain issue in the Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ, saying that the battery levels in select devices were being misreported to the operating system and firmware. To make sure that everyone understands the gist of what has been causing the problem, it also provides a clear and simple analogy.
"Think of this like a fuel gauge in a car, where the car looks to the fuel gauge to determine how much to fill the tank. In this case, if the fuel gauge isn't working right, the car would also not be able to fill the tank — even though the tank is fine," the company says.
On an interesting note, Microsoft released an update on Aug. 1, and many users hoped it would be the fix they have been waiting for with bated breath. However, that obviously wasn't the case, as the battery drain issues continued even after it launched.
At any rate, the latest firmware that just went live is supposed to be the solution to the battery problems of the Surface Pro 3.
Are you one of the unfortunate owners who had some trouble with the laptop-tablet hybrid? If so, feel free to let us know in the comments section below, especially about whether the update fixes the issues on your device or not.
Photo: Scott Akerman | Flickr
