Microsoft Surface devices have had issues with random hibernation in the past and it looks like the new Surface Pro is no different.
Both the Surface Pro 3 and the Surface Pro 4 had some battery life issues early on, which Microsoft solved with driver and firmware fixes. It now seems like the latest Surface Pro is causing users some similar issues, randomly turning off or hibernating.
2017 Surface Pro Randomly Hibernating Or Turning Off
Frustrated Surface Pro owners took to the Microsoft Community Forum to complain about random turn offs or hibernation issues, which apparently can lead to losing some data as well.
"For some reason my new Surface is shutting off randomly. I check the setting and a few other things but it's still randomly turns off without warning," writes one user. "I'm losing some of my school work because of it. Is anyone else having this problem?"
Nearly 300 other users replied to the thread and it seems the issue is affecting plenty of others, albeit Microsoft says it only affects a small number of users. The company also says the affected Surface Pro units are hibernating and not shutting down altogether, which shouldn't account for any data loss. Users report otherwise, and Microsoft says it will investigate the matter.
Microsoft Investigating Surface Pro Random Shutdown
"We are aware of a small group of customers reporting a scenario with their new Surface Pro in which the device inadvertently hibernates. We are investigating this issue," says a Microsoft employee.
The hundreds of customers who said they're experiencing such issues indicate that the problem may not be as limited as Microsoft says, and it seems the Surface Pro occasionally shuts off all of a sudden even while in use.
Trusted blogger Paul Thurrott says he hasn't experienced this issue first hand, so this problem does indeed seem to affect only some Surface Pro users. Nevertheless, it's a frustrating reliability issue marring what is otherwise a great device with powerful specs and features all around.
Microsoft MVP Barb Bowman advises affected customers to return their Surface Pro now, while it's still new, so they could get another one. Otherwise, Microsoft may eventually move to fix this random turn off/ hibernating issue with a future firmware update for the Surface Pro.
The company is still looking into the matter at this point, so no additional details or fix are available at this moment. Microsoft should offer more information, as well as a solution, once it completes its investigation.
