Surface Pro 2 faulty firmware patched

Microsoft Surface Pro

Microsoft has started rolling out a fix for the faulty Surface Pro 2 firmware update it was forced to withdraw last month following user complaints about its battery life impact.

The update was released as part of Microsoft's monthly round of Patch Tuesday software patches on 10 December, and was designed to improve system stability and the interaction between the tablet and its keyboard.

Shortly after its release, Surface Pro 2 users began complaining the update was draining their batteries, and would shut down devices when users instructed them to sleep.

Microsoft promptly withdrew the update, and promised users it would come up with a fix after Christmas.

True to its word, the software giant has started rolling out a patch to users affected by the faulty firmware first time around.

In a statement, the company confirmed the move: "This weekend we released an update that addresses the unexpected wake and battery drain behaviour experienced by a small number of Surface Pro 2 customers who installed the December Windows Update.

"This should have no impact on customers who had not received the December update. We are working hard to deliver the rest of the December update to those customers who had not received it prior to it being removed from distribution."

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.