There are a couple of things worth noting. Firstly, it seems Redmond has struggled to fix this problem with firmware update. This is not an official policy it seems as Microsoft has previously said it is working on a fix for the Surface Pro 4 screen problem. Secondly, it is unclear if the company has now decided to just replace faulty units. As we have previously noted, screen flickering on the Surface Pro 4 has been a long-standing issue. There have been reports as far back as October 2016 regarding the problem. In the summer, Microsoft admitted the only likely fix would be to replace units. At the time, the company said if flickering persists after updating to the latest firmware and Windows version, customers should contact support. Once the faulty device has been sent in, Microsoft will start the replacement process.
New Unit
During the discussion, one user explains how Microsoft called in their device and shipped out a new one: “After a lot of dialog and those guys also remoting into the SP4 I had it was determined they would be better off capturing my unit directly to try and gain additional details. I promptly shipped my unit to them SP4, i5, 128GB/4GB of ram and they returned to me the next day a SP5 i5, 256GB/8GB unit, which was new and a 9 month warranty left. I have had 0 issues with that unit.” A consumer reports study last year shows an unreasonable rate of return for older Surface devices, and a lack of reasonable response.
