Owners of the Surface Pro 3 who have been suffering from rapid battery drain issues would be happy to know that Microsoft is now testing a software update that will fix the problem.

Users hoped that the firmware update for the Surface Pro 3 released earlier this month would be rolling out the fix for their battery problems, but that was not the case.

Surface Pro 3 owners have long complained of excessive battery drain in their devices. It was first thought that the problem was due to its hardware, but Microsoft has now acknowledged that the issue is with the device's software.

"We can now confirm that this Surface Pro 3 battery capacity question is not a hardware issue, but one that can be addressed with a software update," wrote a company representative on the official Microsoft support forums.

According to the same post, Microsoft is now testing the update that will fix the battery drain problem, and that it will be published as soon as it has passed the company's quality assurance process.

The upcoming update to fix the Surface Pro 3's rapidly draining battery should be considered good news for the device's users, but some are unhappy about it. This is because there are some device owners who have already paid steep replacement fees reaching $450 and more to acquire a brand new Surface Pro 3 or newer models in an attempt to escape the battery problems. These owners are now finding out that they did not actually have to spend that money on a new piece of hardware, as the fault lies within the Surface Pro 3's software.

It is unclear whether Microsoft will pay compensation to users who spent for replacement fees. Hopefully it does, or else the company will have to deal with a handful of disgruntled Surface Pro 3 owners.

Microsoft has not stated an expected released date for the software update that will fix the Surface Pro 3's battery drain issues.

Microsoft's successor to the Surface Pro 3, the Surface Pro 4, also had battery issues when it was released in the fourth quarter of last year. The problem was fixed faster compared with the Surface Pro 3's battery issues though, with Microsoft patching it up through a firmware update in June.

While in sleep mode, when it was expected that the device will be able conserve power, the Surface Pro 4's battery drained quickly. Microsoft attributed the issue to power management problems connected to Intel Skylake processors.