Microsoft has finally fixed the battery drain issued that happened on Surface Pro 3 with the 8/29/2016 system firmware update. Now, most users no longer experience the battery drain issue on their device anymore. However, some owners that are using LGC battery in their device find that their battery can no longer hold a charge and the battery run out quickly. Today, Microsoft has just released another system firmware update for Surface Pro 3 that will address this issue.

This new system firmware update will show up in Windows Update as “System Firmware Update – 11/7/2016″. This new update will bring your Surface Pro 3 firmware up to the version of 38.11.50.0. You can get this new Firmware Update by going to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.

Surface Pro 3 11/7/2016 System Firmware Update

The Surface team seems to work aggressively to provide the best support for Surface owners. With this new update, they also reported the reasons that cause the battery ran out quickly on some Surface Pro 3 devices.

On a limited number of Surface Pro 3 devices, an error condition occurs that causes the full charge capacity of the battery to be misreported to the operating system and device firmware. When this condition occurs, the system no longer charges the battery to its full actual capacity, and the Surface is unable to function on battery power.

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.

They also reported about how this new system firmware update will address this battery issue as below:

An update is now available to correct this issue. This update corrects the logic in the firmware component that functions as the “fuel gauge” for the Surface Pro 3 battery, so that the actual battery capacity on devices with this particular part is accurately reported. This allows the Surface to once again leverage the maximum charge capacity of the battery.

Once this fix is applied to a Surface Pro 3, the reported full charge capacity will self-correct over the next several charge and discharge cycles. Surface Pro 3 devices that previously experienced the problem can now operate on battery power, and the issue won’t occur on devices that haven’t experienced the issue.

[Update] November 7, 2016, System Firmware Update

According to on Surface Pro 3 history page, here are the full details for the 11/7/2016 firmware update for Surface Pro 3:

Windows Update History NameDevice Manager Name
System Firmware Update – 11/7/2016Surface Pro Embedded Controller Firmware

  • v38.11.50.0 corrects an error that may occur on a limited number of Surface Pro 3 devices where the full charge capacity of the battery is misreported to the operating system and device firmware. This update corrects the firmware component that functions as a “fuel gauge” so that the battery capacity is accurately reported. See Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ for more information.

After you downloaded this system firmware update, you need to make sure that your Surface Pro 3 is connected directly to the AC power source by using the standard AC power adapter (Not using Surface Docking Station). You also need to disconnect any USB devices or external monitors and make sure check that your battery is at least 40% before you restart your device to install the system firmware update. And, do not disconnect from AC power while the update is being applied.

For more detail information, check out Surface Pro 3 Battery FAQ.