For the Price of an Update, Better Battery Life for the Surface Pro 2

On October 24, I noted that the very 1st firmware update for the Surface Pro 2 released. The Surface Pro 2 update history page has yet to be updated to explain what was included in the firmware release, but reports are starting to suggest that there's at least one significant reason to apply it.

The firmware update apparently boosts Surface Pro 2's battery life by another 25%. One of the key complaints for the original Surface Pro series was that battery life was atrocious, and owners (myself included) spent more time managing power capacity during travel than actually using the device. Microsoft made considerable effort to improve battery life for the Surface Pro 2, but was only able eke out around 6-7 hours of continued use. Still, that is far better than the original Surface Pro, which could require snapping the power adapter in place after only 4-5 hours of use.

So, who knew that a simple firmware update could push the Surface Pro 2's stock battery life to a little over 8 hours? Why they didn't provide this for the device rollout is curious. Reports indicate that the firmware fixes bugs in how the Marvell WiFi manages power states. The unfortunate thing is that most reviewers have already weighed in on the Surface Pro 2 and so the recommendations on battery life are set in stone in readers' minds, despite the latest improvement.

The firmware is available through Windows Update, or for those tasked with managing firmware and update rollouts within their company in a staged, controlled manner, the firmware is located at this link:

Surface Pro 2 firmware and driver pack