Skip to main content

Microsoft has found the source of recent Surface Pro 3 battery woes

There’s some good news for Surface Pro 3 owners who have been plagued by battery issues. Microsoft has apparently figured out what’s causing the hybrids to run through their charge so quickly, and is currently working on a fix.

It seems that the problem is confined to Surface Pro 3 units that are fitted with a Simplo battery. However, Microsoft hopes to be able to make the fix on the software side, without having to arrange a product recall or trade-in program.

Recommended Videos

Word of the battery complaint first started to spread in mid July, with some owners reporting that their tablet could only muster up one or two hours of use from a single charge, whereas others saw their device’s battery life cut down to a matter of minutes.

After a few weeks investigating the issue, it seems that Microsoft has found the source. There’s currently no timeframe on when users can expect to see this fix delivered, according to a report from ZDNet.

“Based on our investigations we can confirm that it is not an issue with the battery cells, and we believe this is something that can be addressed via software,” read a statement posted by a company representative on the Microsoft Community forum. “We’re working through the details of how we deliver that.”

A software fix would obviously be the ideal solution from Microsoft’s perspective, given the alternative. If the issue was found to be related to hardware, the company would likely have been forced to replace each affected Surface Pro unit, rather than just the battery — which would have been very expensive indeed.

Microsoft hasn’t indicated how it plans to distribute the patch, so affected users should keep an eye on Windows Update as well as the company’s support channels.

Brad Jones
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
The M3 iPad Air is the budget iPad Pro I’ve been waiting for
Angled view of the iPad Air with M3 silicon.

Less than a year ago, I left my trusty M1 iPad Pro behind and got myself the iPad Pro powered by the M4 silicon. The design refresh was eye-catching, and so was the allure of getting an M4 processor even before the Macs.

The biggest reason, however, was the 13-inch screen, which put it in roughly the same league as the MacBook Air. I splurged close to $1,700 and got the whole Magic Keyboard kit for a proper computing experience.

Read more
A smaller OnePlus Watch 3 may be coming, but has a big challenge to overcome
A person wearing the OnePlus Watch 3.

The OnePlus Watch 3 is a great Wear OS smartwatch, with its claimed five-day battery that beats competitors like the Galaxy Watch 7 or Watch Ultra by a long margin. It isn't perfect, though, and there are a few aspects where OnePlus could improve, and it's working to address those in another model that should come this year.

A OnePlus representative recently confirmed a new OnePlus Watch -- perhaps, a new variant of the Watch 3 -- was being worked on. It may not launch immediately, but the brand is supposedly fixing two issues some people may currently have with the OnePlus Watch 3. With this iteration, we could see a smaller and lighter OnePlus Watch 3, while a new problem could emerge because of that. Let me discuss this below.
A smaller OnePlus Watch 3 is good
Wellness Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more
Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro specifications hinted at in a fresh rumor
The Nothing Phone 2a Plus's camera and Glyph Interface lights.

Nothing, the mobile and lifestyle tech brand founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, is set to launch its next set of mid-rangers early in March. Official details of the devices, including Nothing Phone (3a) and (3a) Pro, have been scanty, but a new leak hints at the tentative specifications, including upgrades coming to the processor, new camera setup, and other improvements to the design.

Earlier, Pei had teased the Nothing Phone (3a) series is moving to a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip instead of MediaTek seen on the Phone (2a) and (2a) Plus. This week's leak, courtesy of a tip received by Indian outlet SmartPrix, corroborates it and states that both phones with be powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 -- a mid-range chipset launched in August 2024.

Read more