Heads up: Microsoft’s freshly released Surface drivers are causing problems for some Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book users, prompting driver errors. This is just the latest in a long series of firmware updates causing problems on Microsoft’s line of tablets.
Microsoft’s alert announcing the April 2016 firmware update prompted a flood of complaints in the comments, with users saying various drivers didn’t properly install. Several posted screenshots of the Device Manager, others posted error codes, complaining about blue screens during the install process.
Over at WinSuperSite, meanwhile, Richard Hay said that right-clicking the devices in Device Manager, then clicking “Update Drive” will solve the problem by installing drivers from February.
It’s not unusual for some users to have problems during firmware updates, and it’s not unusual for such users to post complaints about their problems. But Surface Pro 4 and Surfacebook users have seen issues since release.
Reviewers gave glowing reviews to both the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book. The hardware is sleek, the performance is great, and the price is fair. But there have been software issues since launch.Devices were failing to go to sleep while closed, meaning they’d simultaneously drain the battery while also overheating in their own elegantly designed keyboard cases. Some users reported Wi-Fi issues, while others reported the mouse cursor disappearing.
It didn’t affect all users, but it sure made the devices worse for many. And firmware updates designed to solve problems keep causing new ones: A January update introduced several new problems, breaking the pen and causing crashes for some users.
This latest firmware update looked to address these and other issues by updating major drivers. Here’s what WinBeta.org reported for the Surface Book:
And here’s what’s new on the Surface Pro 4:
In theory these updates could solve issues, but not if they fail to install. It’s unfortunate that such great devices have so many hiccups during rollout. For the sake of Surface users, let’s hope it gets resolved, and that users won’t need to read comment threads and blogs to find solutions in the future.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.