Redmond prepares a new round of improvements for its tablet

Nov 18, 2014 10:59 GMT  ·  By

Just like its predecessors, the Surface Pro 3 is affected by several critical issues, including one that leads to limited Wi-Fi connectivity in certain scenarios. Microsoft has already tried to fix this with several firmware updates, but it turns out that the company will attempt to repair the problems with a new firmware expected to launch in the coming weeks.

Firmware updates are usually released by Microsoft on Patch Tuesday, no matter the tablet model, so the new version might actually come next month during the same rollout.

However, given the fact that the company has already announced the new firmware version, an out-of-band update is also very likely, so we’re still expecting some specific release dates for the upcoming round of improvements.

What’s in the new firmware

A post on the TechNet blog reveals that the new Surface Pro 3 firmware will include a Surface Pro UEFI update (v3.11.350.0), Surface Home Button driver update (v2.0.1174.0), Surface Pen Settings driver update (v2.5.14.0), and Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.3066.135).

The last one would attempt to “enable better throughput after waking from sleep and connecting to an 802.11AC network” and to “ensure the device reconnects properly to a hidden SSID using a 5Ghz DFS channel after waking from sleep.”

In other words, Microsoft might attempt to fix the issue causing limited Wi-Fi connectivity with the new firmware, but it remains to be seen if this new firmware does the job or not.

Obviously, other improvements are also part of the package, so expect the home button to work as it should, as some users previously reported that the device accidentally woke from sleep when being stored or carried.

Also experienced by other Surface models

The limited Wi-Fi connectivity issues aren’t a Surface Pro 3-exclusive problem, as some other Surface models were also experiencing pretty much the same glitches until Microsoft rolled out fixes.

It’s a well-known fact, however, that as far as this particular problem is concerned, Microsoft needed quite a lot of time to address it, so many users actually preferred to return their devices and either get their money back and purchase a new tablet, or buy a new model, hoping that no errors would be experienced.

In Surface Pro 3’s case, the issue was first reported shortly after the May 20 launch, so the company needed approximately 5 months to develop a fix.

It remains to be seen whether the new firmware would actually fix these problems once and for all, but users are, however, very disappointed with the amount of time needed to address such a critical bug.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (5 Images)

Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 with 12-inch screenMicrosoft Surface Pro 3 with digital pen
+2more