Intel HD Graphics Driver Update Hits Surface Book and Surface Pro 4

An important update to the Intel HD Graphics driver has finally been approved by Microsoft for delivery to Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. It should improve performance and reliability across the board, Intel says.

Note: I was tipped off to this update by Windows Central.

“Whether you’re a casual gamer, power user, or gamer, this driver is aimed to improve your overall experience,” the Intel release notes explain. “We’ve fixed many hangs, crashes, and graphics corruptions across a wide spectrum of games and applications. We’re especially pleased to report that this driver also fixes some long standing and frequently reported graphics issues on Intel’s Support Community, including a scaling issue with Windows 10, and an error found when playing a particular game title.”

Yes, some other Intel system components have caused much bigger performance and reliability issues on Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 in the past. But since those have finally been cleared up for many, Intel’s HD Graphics driver—which applies to both the Intel HD Graphics 520 on Surface Book/Pro 4 and Iris graphics on the Surface Book with discrete GPU—has continued to be a source of frustration. So I’m curious to see whether this really fixes things. (It’s installing on my Surface Book as I write this.)

According to Intel, this version of the driver fixes numerous issues (including some I’ve personally seen), such as graphics corruption in games like Just Cause 3, Forza Apex,The Witness, XCOM 2, and Ark Survival: Evolved; system hangs when a system returns from sleep or hibernation, various system crashes, screen rotation issues, and more.

So cross your fingers. I know I am.