You may remember last month users started complaining about worse than normal battery degradation. The Surface Pro 3 was dropping battery life quickly, mostly under one hour. Users noted that devices with SIMPLO batteries were more frequently affected. Of course, battery degradation for li-on juicers is common. It is par for the course in fact. However, this kind of rapid decline is worrying. It was especially concerning considering the degradation of the Surface Pro 3 coincided with the device ending its warranty cycle. Microsoft was quick to respond and say that it would conduct an investigation into the problem. However, the company said it would not pay for fixes with replacement units. The best offer from Redmond was to reduce the price of a replacement to $500.
Remaining Problems
With that in mind, it is good news that the company has said today that the problem is software based. That means Microsoft can work on a patch, roll it out, and hopefully solve the issue. The company says that fix is currently being tested internally. When those tests are complete, end users will be seeing an update for the Surface Pro 3. The company is now saying users should avoid paying for replacement. However, there is a backlash already starting and it could get worse. Many users have already paid hundreds of dollars to get replacement units. It could be argued that those users should have waited for Microsoft to conduct its investigation. However, the company hardly helped with the situation. Its statement about the investigation was vague and suggested that it could be a hardware problem. Moreover, Microsoft made it clear it would not cover the cost of a replacement.
