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Surface Pro owners growing irate over annoying Surface Pen bug

Surface Pro owners becoming irate over ongoing Surface Pen bug (Image source: Microsoft)
Surface Pro owners becoming irate over ongoing Surface Pen bug (Image source: Microsoft)
Holding the Surface Pro with one hand while drawing with a Surface Pen on the other is apparently enough to "break" the tablet. A small but annoying bug reduces the accuracy of the Surface Pen if the user is touching the screen at two or more spots simultaneously. Microsoft is offering no time table for when users can expect a fix.

The Surface Pro series has had a checkered history of software and hardware issues despite the generally positive reviews from press. Its latest headache is probably the worst as it pertains to a very specific stylus bug that Microsoft has yet to fix even after six months from the initial user report.

According to a 64-page long forum thread on the official Microsoft forums, the unusual problem relates to the accuracy of the Surface Pen where inputs are inexplicably off-centered and not registered correctly. If users tap on the touchscreen with the stylus while simultaneously tapping elsewhere on the screen with a finger, then the tablet will register the pen input imprecisely to the left or right of where the stylus contacts the screen. A user video below illustrates this perfectly to show that the bug can be repeated consistently.

Users have reported that existing updates alleviate the problem somewhat but do not solve it completely. Interestingly enough, the bug exists only for the current Surface Pen and can be avoided by using an older Wacom Bamboo stylus instead. This has led users to believe that the issue may be related to electromagnetic interference between the tablet and Surface Pen. Microsoft is apparently still working on a solution without a time frame for when users can expect the hotfix to arrive.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 03 > Surface Pro owners growing irate over annoying Surface Pen bug
Allen Ngo, 2018-03-21 (Update: 2024-08-15)