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Microsoft issues fixes for Surface Pro 3 Wi-Fi, battery life

At least three of the software giant's updates address power consumption issues, but another Wi-Fi update is planned next week.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
Brooke Crothers

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Surface Pro 3 Microsoft

Microsoft came out on Tuesday with a raft of fixes and updates for the Surface Pro 3 centered on Wi-Fi and battery life.

At least three of the updates boost battery life in one way or another.

One firmware fix is for "reducing power consumption," while a second is for "enhancing battery life." A third wireless network controller update reduces power consumption in "low power states."

That same wireless update will also improve "some WiFi connection scenarios," which could address some of the Wi-Fi issues users have been reporting.

And if that's not enough, Microsoft said "we will also issue an update on Wednesday, July 16, to further improve Wi-Fi connection and throughput scenarios."

Two more updates will improve "trackpad reliability" and when the onscreen keyboard disappears and appears.

All of the updates are listed on Microsoft's Surface support page. But don't expect those updates to appear immediately.

"When Surface updates are provided via the Windows Update service, they are delivered in stages to Surface customers. As a result, not every Surface will receive the update at the same time, but the update will be delivered to all devices," Microsoft said.

Finally, let me note that in my own use of the Surface Pro 3, I've experienced what I would describe as a delayed Wi-Fi connection -- up to one minute -- when coming out of sleep mode. I'll update this story if that problem is addressed with any of the above updates.