A growing number of Surface Pro 3 users have been reporting sudden catastrophic battery failure after their device left the warranty period. Surfaces with batteries manufactured by Simplo have been suffering from severe maximum capacity reduction beginning around a month after the warranty expires.
In a now extensive thread on the Microsoft support forums, owners have been venting their frustration at Microsoft for a few weeks. After being left with just 140mWh of reported capacity from a battery quoted for 40,000mWh, they have been demanding free battery replacements from Microsoft due to the severity of the issue.
After staying silent for a while, Microsoft has finally responded to the reports, perhaps due to the media coverage. Having such a major problem occur on a flagship device with a “great battery” doesn’t look good so the company has been forced into action.
In a post in the growing thread, a Microsoft support representative acknowledged the reports and said the company has been investigating the problems. He said the issues have been isolated to a “limited number of customers” who are facing catastrophic capacity declines.
Microsoft does not believe the batteries are physically defective. Instead, a software problem appears to be causing the firmware to incorrectly calculate the battery capacity. This results in the system “reporting lower battery capacity than expected,” according to Microsoft.
Because the problem does not lie with the hardware, Surface owners should be able to obtain a free fix. Microsoft said it is looking to release a software update to resolve the issues but is still “working through the details” of how to do that. In other words, it’s not yet sure exactly what’s going on and it doesn’t have a patch immediately available.
When the update is released, the firmware should begin to correctly report the battery capacity again. This will enable owners to use their devices without being attached to a power supply. The 140mWh or less being reported on defective units is insufficient for even a few minutes’ usage.
What is causing the firmware to incorrectly report the battery capacity remains unknown. The capacity loss occurs gradually over a period of a couple of months. Initially, only small amounts are lost per week but this begins to increase exponentially. It eventually bottoms out at around 140mWh but some users have seen as little as 40mWh, the equivalent of a 0.1% charge.
The Surface Pro 3 uses batteries manufactured by Simplo and LG. Although Microsoft has not confirmed it, user reports indicate only Simplo units are affected. The issues are problematic for Microsoft because it had previously promised a battery that could be “charged daily, 5 days a week, for over 4.5 years and still maintain 80% capacity.” Users are being left with a battery that can’t hold a 1% charge after just 13 months of use.
Affected owners should continue to monitor the support thread for updates from Microsoft on the situation. The company is currently investigating how to fix the problem through software. It should release a patch as soon as it is able to, restoring devices to a useful battery capacity.
The support thread is now over 30 pages long and owners are becoming increasingly impatient. Microsoft will need to deploy a fix quickly or risk a PR disaster when marketing future Surface batteries.
