26 PCWorld SEPTEMBER 2020NEWS DELL FIXES CHARGING ISSUES
XPS 15 9500, which never experienced the
XPS 17 9700’s issue, did appear to update
the laptop’s USB Power Delivery circuit.
The update affected both the “Main USB
PD Controller 2” and “Main USB PD
Controller 1.”IT’S PROBABLY A
HARDWARE FIX
Reading between the lines, however, the fix is
likely not as simple as firmware. Dell wouldn’t
have to reach out to impacted customers just
for that, so it’s entirely possible the answer is
hardware-related. Indeed, several posts in a
Dell subreddit seemed to confirm that the fix
is hardware.
User HistoGraham was among several
claimed XPS 17 owners who said they were
advised that a replacement laptop ormotherboard swap was
the fix.
“Just got off the phone
with support.
CONFIRMED: the XPS 17
battery drain is a
HARDWARE issue and
NOT a firmware issue,”
HistoGraham wrote. “
“My technician
recommended that I return
my laptop and order a new
one. If I understood him
correctly, he said that:
‘New XPS 17s on the
production line are now being made with the
fix for the charging issue. The standalone
replacement motherboards won’t be
available until August, or possibly later.’”
Others in the Dell subreddit posted
similar conversations with customer support.
Dell’s claim that the issue is with a “limited”
number of units also appears to be true, if
posts in the same forum are to be believed.
Several have said their XPS 17 units were
capable of reaching the full 130 watts’ draw
from the power bricks rather than stopping
at 105 watts.
Although we can’t verify these posts on
Reddit, they suggest that an easy fix through
firmware or software isn’t going to be the
answer. To Dell’s credit, the company is
acknowledging the problem and reaching
out to those with affected units.The Dell XPS 15 9500 has never exhibited discharge issues, but a recent
update to the XPS 15 9500 updated the USB PD charging circuit. It’s not
known if that’s part of Dell’s fix for the XPS 17 9700.