Microsoft Releases Early 2016 Updates for Surface 3 & Surface Pro 3

Microsoft has released a few days ago firmware updates for the Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3 tablets. We have been informed about this through a pop-up alert on the Microsoft Answers site, as you can see in the above screenshot.

Besides its own updates, Microsoft also started rolling out the newest Intel HD Graphics drivers, as well. Microsoft has also released an official change log on its official Surface update history pages, so here are all the modifications and improvements which have been released.

As always, we are being reminded once again that:

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. If you have not received the update then please manually check Windows Update later.

As we can see from the official changelogs, the Surface 3 is the device which has received a bigger update, getting updates for the Surface 3 Type Cover, improved audio, WiFi and Bluetooth, GPS and various other updates.

Early 2016 System Firmware Update for the Surface 3

• Surface System Aggregator Firmware update (v1.0.51500.0) improves reliability with the Surface 3 Type Cover
• Surface UEFI update (v1.51116.18.0) improves touch support for UEFI menus and support for 3rd party onscreen keyboards improvements
• Audio Device driver update (v603.9600.2563.61816) improves system stability
• Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.3093.197) improves access point compatibility and throughput on 5GHz
• HD Graphics driver update (v10.18.14.4299) improves system stability and reliability
• Audio Codec driver update (v6.2.9600.527) improves audio quality with some applications
• Serial IO GPIO Controller driver update (v603.9600.2305.3926) improves system stability and touch screen reliability

Furthermore, Microsoft informs that “in addition to the updates list above, the following additional updates are available for Surface 3 (AT&T 4G LTE), Surface 3 (Verizon 4G LTE), Surface 3 (4G LTE) in North America (non-AT&T), Surface 3 (4G LTE) in Europe and Surface 3 (Y!mobile 4G LTE)“:

• GNSS 47531 Geolocation Sensor driver update (v20.23.8244.18) improves GPS experience.
• GNSS Bus Driver update (v20.23.8244.18) improves GPS experience.
• Surface CoSAR driver update (v2.0.304.0) enhances the Wi-Fi connectivity reliability while mobile broadband is ON.
• In addition to the updates list above, the following additional update is available for Surface 3 (Verizon 4G LTE):
• Surface IA7260 Firmware Update (v1544.01.00.28) improves mobile broadband network stability.

Early 2016 System Firmware Update for the Surface Pro 3

• Surface Pro Embedded Controller Firmware update (v38.9.50.0) improves system start-up reliability
• Surface Pro UEFI update (v3.11.1150.0) adds pen support in UEFI menus and improved support for 3rd party onscreen keyboards
• Wireless Network Controller and Bluetooth driver update (v15.68.3093.197) improves access point compatibility and throughput on 5GHz

Another change, which is not mentioned in the changelog, but has been reported by users, is the return of the support for customizing the Surface Pen. Furthermore, the display driver update is believed to take care of the annoying random driver crashing issue.