Microsoft's latest Windows 10 power mode may be causing laptops to overheat

Modern Standby, which Microsoft touts as an instant on/off feature similar to what you would experience on a smartphone, puts the laptop in a low-power state but keeps the device aware enough to continue processing background tasks and instantly boot when you press the power button

Modern Standby is a useful feature and saved us a lot of time while reviewing Windows 10 laptops Unfortunately, however, this power mode has reportedly caused some of the best laptops to overheat while not in use

Lenovo had the most severe problem, consuming 274 watts of power when the laptop was put into sleep mode with the lid closed During sleep, the IdeaPad S740 produced a heat of 122 degrees Fahrenheit, well above our 95-degree comfort threshold These readings were taken after updating the laptop with the latest drivers and turning off Wi-Fi

As Notebookcheck points out, overheating can affect battery life Of further concern is the risk of thermal runaway if the lithium-ion battery is exposed to high temperatures for extended periods of time While there have been no reports of modern standby causing fires or explosions, Windows 10 users should power down their laptops if they find them overheating overnight while in sleep mode

The handful of laptops listed above are likely only a small sample of laptops with problems caused by Modern Standby We have found dozens of forum postings from disgruntled users asking Microsoft to fix Modern Standby or return to the previous S3 power state [Our sister site, Laptop Mag, previously reported on an XPS 15 user who complained that Modern Standby was draining his battery [We wish we could share a solution to the problem you are experiencing with Modern Standby, but there is no easy way to disable this feature

Sure, you can try the various workarounds posted in the online forum, but they can cause even more problems

If it is any consolation, not all laptops using sleep mode have overheating problems This suggests some sort of compatibility issue One can only hope that Microsoft will work with the vendor to provide an update that fixes the problem caused by modern standby And we can only hope that the update does not cause more problems than it solves

This article originally appeared in Laptop Mag