System Firmware Update-27 January 2016

[unni_kmr]

Just received this update.Not sure what it has.

 

[billyboyblue]

lol, you should check for updates more often. The newest update doesnt' appear to solve any of the on going issues we're facing. It's for charging fixes, 5Ghz bands for wifi, and some fingerprint stuff, my fingerprint scanner was always spot on, so meh.

Just another useless firmware update from MS

 

[unni_kmr]

I actually check for updates at least 10 times a day. I thought this was new since its title had 1/27/2016.

 

[billyboyblue]

I check for update

My bad, I didnt' read your list right, that was the history, I thought it was your installation files for tonight haha, anyways, that's what's in this firmware update, nothing actually useful, which is pretty typical of them.

 

[unni_kmr]

Sorry about the post. I submitted before I finished typing. Your list of changes was correct.

January 2016 updates
The following update will be listed as “System Firmware Update – 1/27/2016” when you view your update history.


Surface Embedded Controller Firmware (v103.899.256.0) adds battery charging enhancements and thermal tuning.
Surface Fingerprint Sensor driver update (v2.2.10.6) improves accuracy.
Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.9037.59) improves access point compatibility and throughput on 5Ghz networks.

Source

 

[GatsbyGlen]

Disappointing

 

[boltman2013]

Microsoft finally rolls out first Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 firmware update for 2016 ? WinBeta

It appears the Surface Pro 4 firmware update does not fix the battery drain issue during sleep or the graphics driver issue, as evident by the changelog. However, one can argue that the first bullet point refers to the battery drain issue. The only way to find out is to test this firmware update to see for sure. In this firmware update, Microsoft has improved the battery charging times, fingerprint sensor accuracy, and WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity.

 

[krabby]

I think you gents that believe things are not happening fast enough have not been on the bleeding edge very often. I cant recall a single early device that was perfect and this device is bleeding edge, it might not seem like it but this is the truth. This segment is relatively new and evolving rapidly with this device being the one that is defining the category and its direction more than any other.

I think you folks also need to recognize that there are a lot of people who are not having issues. I am not, not a single one. I know two other people in the world with this device and they have no complaints either. Not a big sample but my luck in the casino implies I didn't get a lottery winner and knowing two lottery winners seems a little unlikely to me.

Bottom line to me is that the device has been seeing regular updates that by most accounts have fixed a lot of issues people have faced. I bought in at the beginning of December by which time most of the worst reported issues seems to have been fixed. I have never had a graphics driver failure for instance which was widely reported previous to that. It might be good to look at the device software and reported issues at release and consider where we are now before we start beating MS about the head and shoulders for failing to support the product.

 

[anon(5327127)]

I have zero complaints.

I've never hibernated a machine... ever... as it's always been far too much trouble. Shutdown and then boot again as it's fast enough for me. Currently using a Core M SP4 ONLY on a 5Ghz network at home. Seems fine.

 

[vhl71]

I got the update as well. Not sure what the change log is.
Anyone know what issues this update fixes?

Sent from mTalk

 

[unni_kmr]

Anyone know what issues this update fixes?

This is the change log in MS website:

January 2016 updates
The following update will be listed as “System Firmware Update – 1/27/2016” when you view your update history.

• Surface Embedded Controller Firmware (v103.899.256.0) adds battery charging enhancements and thermal tuning.
• Surface Fingerprint Sensor driver update (v2.2.10.6) improves accuracy.
• Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.9037.59) improves access point compatibility and throughput on 5Ghz networks.

Source

 

[snakebitten]

I'm one with very few and very minor complaints with the SP4.

Got the firmware update today and my Hello-Facial-Recognition acted like I was a stranger after the reboot.
I went directly to "enhance recognition" routine and she suddenly decided we were best friends again.

My feelings were just a bit hurt. But all is forgiven.

 

[eastbayrae]

I think you gents that believe things are not happening fast enough have not been on the bleeding edge very often. I cant recall a single early device that was perfect and this device is bleeding edge, it might not seem like it but this is the truth. This segment is relatively new and evolving rapidly with this device being the one that is defining the category and its direction more than any other.

I think you folks also need to recognize that there are a lot of people who are not having issues. I am not, not a single one. I know two other people in the world with this device and they have no complaints either. Not a big sample but my luck in the casino implies I didn't get a lottery winner and knowing two lottery winners seems a little unlikely to me.

Bottom line to me is that the device has been seeing regular updates that by most accounts have fixed a lot of issues people have faced. I bought in at the beginning of December by which time most of the worst reported issues seems to have been fixed. I have never had a graphics driver failure for instance which was widely reported previous to that. It might be good to look at the device software and reported issues at release and consider where we are now before we start beating MS about the head and shoulders for failing to support the product.

This is by my account the 4th version of this device so it isn't 'bleeding edge' by any means.

 

[billyboyblue]

I think you gents that believe things are not happening fast enough have not been on the bleeding edge very often. I cant recall a single early device that was perfect and this device is bleeding edge, it might not seem like it but this is the truth. This segment is relatively new and evolving rapidly with this device being the one that is defining the category and its direction more than any other.

I think you folks also need to recognize that there are a lot of people who are not having issues. I am not, not a single one. I know two other people in the world with this device and they have no complaints either. Not a big sample but my luck in the casino implies I didn't get a lottery winner and knowing two lottery winners seems a little unlikely to me.

Bottom line to me is that the device has been seeing regular updates that by most accounts have fixed a lot of issues people have faced. I bought in at the beginning of December by which time most of the worst reported issues seems to have been fixed. I have never had a graphics driver failure for instance which was widely reported previous to that. It might be good to look at the device software and reported issues at release and consider where we are now before we start beating MS about the head and shoulders for failing to support the product.

100% agree, but you can't fix a screen with screen bleed via software. That's the only real hardware issue i've seen, and it plagues many, if not everyone. I've sat at a best buy and emptied the stock with a so called " geek squad " agent, and they had them, all of them had them. That's a production problem, not a software problem.

 

[snakebitten]

This is by my account the 4th version of this device so it isn't 'bleeding edge' by any means.

I can see your argument from the point of view that my SP2 is called a 2 and my SP4 is called a 4.
So on paper, you are correct.

But I'm holding both of them at this moment. Looking at them and considering their lineage to each other.
I think they both have one thing in common; At the moment they were released, they were both stretching the envelope of this modern tablet form factor.

As an analogy, I would compare say ....... the 2016 Porsche 911 and the 2014 Porsche 911. Now THAT is incremental polishing and continuous development. There is an enormous amount of carry over from one model to the next.

But the SP4 hardly even resembles my SP2.

Still, I do think the SP4 should have been a far more stable and perfected SP3. It IS an improved SP3, no doubt in my opinion. But the Skylake upgrade kind of steepened the ramp on that too.

 

[krabby]

This is by my account the 4th version of this device so it isn't 'bleeding edge' by any means.

bleed′ing edge′ n. 1. the forefront of a technological development
2. the most advanced stage of a technology, iteration of a device, art, etc.

I think I have to disagree with your disagreement unless of course you feel that the SP4 is playing catch up to other devices which got there first and are doing it better. I wouldn't agree with that assessment either. BTW

 

[Clive Rennie]

I had a Surface Book returned it never got to use it more than once a day because of issues, went with the HP Spectre X2-12 freezing screen flicker front screen was coming of at the edge, now I'm back to a SP4 i5 256 gb 8 gigs ram so far so good with redstone build win 10 and all firmware drivers, so I think its the skylake cpu and all will be fixed in the version.

 

[billyboyblue]

bleed′ing edge′ n. 1. the forefront of a technological development
2. the most advanced stage of a technology, iteration of a device, art, etc.

I think I have to disagree with your disagreement unless of course you feel that the SP4 is playing catch up to other devices which got there first and are doing it better. I wouldn't agree with that assessment either. BTW

I'm not sure how another companies hardware has anything to do with the tablet? Microsoft didn't make the tablet, they may have fabricated it, but they didn't make the CPU, the Graphics card, the wifi Chip, the Screen , the ... well, anything really. They made software interact with the hardware, which is what they do. By your standards, every time they release a new version of windows they are " bleeding Edge " I understand what you are TRYING to say, but that logic is flawed.

 

[krabby]

My logic is not flawed, this device is bleeding edge, not sort of, not kind of, it is the exact definition of bleeding edge. This is not a term I defined, in fact to my knowledge at no point has the English language ever been in my care and I have never set the definition of any word or phrase that I am aware of... at least not yet..

As to the rest no one makes everything in the modern computer world, not MS, not Apple, even Samsung cannot make the claim. Looking at computing in general most OEMs will have made somewhere between very little and none of a completed device as the work is invariable outsourced by all but the largest corps who still outsource some of it. Of course who made a device of has nothing to do whatsoever with whether that device is bleeding edge so I'm not clear on what your point was with that line of reasoning. And yes, by definition the latest greatest brand new major iteration of a software (W10 for example) would be bleeding edge and most would expect bugs/glitches with the software and the device that harbored it.