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Microsoft issues awaited Surface Book, Surface Pro 4 power-management fixes

Microsoft is rolling out a set of Microsoft and Intel driver and firmware updates for Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 that fix power-management issues that have plagued a number of users.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

Microsoft has issued fixes for power-management problems that have been plaguing some Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 users.

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Some users of the two newest Surfaces (the Book and Pro 4) have been reporting that their devices never properly go to sleep. The result: The machines stay on, get quite hot and drain the battery.

Microsoft officials knew about the power-management problem, but weren't willing to say much about when and how they planned to fix it.

The fixes that Microsoft is making available today, February 17, "include a set of Microsoft and Intel driver and firmware updates for Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 that will help you get the most of the power management options that Surface is designed to offer and continue to make your Surface more productive," said Panos Panay, Corporate Vice President and head of Microsoft's Surface business in a blog post.

The power-management problems aren't the only problems some Surface Book and Surface Pro users have been reporting. There have been ongoing Intel display-driver crashes, as well as random blue screens and device restarts happening to some -- but again, not all -- users.

Panay made it clear that he and his team are continuing to listen to what users are reporting.

"We are committed to continuing to improve Surface - to keep pushing out updates to make your device more awesome. And to continue to help all our customers realize the full benefits of the latest silicon and Windows 10," he said.

Microsoft's guidance for all Surface users is to keep their devices up-to-date with all fixes delivered via Windows Update. The Surface Book Update History site is here; the Surface Pro 4 one is here.

Here's the (hefty) list of updates in today's batch:

  • System Hardware Update - 2/17/2016
  • Microsoft driver update for Surface UEFI
  • Microsoft driver update for Surface Management Engine
  • Microsoft driver update for Surface System Aggregator Firmware
  • Surface Management Engine update (v11.0.0.1202) improves system stability.
  • Surface System Aggregator Firmware update (v88.1081.257.0) improves accuracy of battery status and battery life during sleep.
  • Surface UEFI update (v104.1085.768.0) improves battery life and improves stability during power state transition changes into and out of sleep states.
  • Intel Precise Touch Device driver update (v1.1.0.226) improves stability during power state transition changes into and out of sleep states.
  • Intel HD Graphics 520 driver update (v20.19.15.4364) improves display stability, system stability and battery life.
  • Intel Display Audio driver update (v8.20.0.745) supports compatibility with the updated graphics driver.
  • Realtek High Definition Audio(SST) driver update (v6.0.1.7734) improves system stability.
  • Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel® SST) Audio Controller driver update (v8.20.0.866) improves system stability.
  • Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel® SST) OED driver update (v8.20.0.866) improves system stability.
  • Intel Management Engine Interface driver update (v11.0.0.1176) improves system stability.
  • Intel Serial IO GPIO Host Controller driver update (v30.63.1603.5) improves auto rotation reliability when tablet mode is turned off.
  • Intel Serial IO I2C Host Controller driver update (v30.63.1603.5) improves auto rotation reliability when tablet mode is turned off.
  • Surface Book Base Firmware driver update (v1.2.0.0) improves battery life during sleep.
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