My Steam Deck 2 dreams just got crushed, now I have to crush yours too Leave a comment
Since its launch in 2022, Valve’s Steam Deck has racked up a substantial viewers and left a long-lasting impression on the gaming scene. Nevertheless, three years later, its getting old {hardware} is beginning to present, with a number of producers already on their second iterations of PC gaming handhelds. So, can we anticipate a Steam Deck 2 to observe? I, such as you, dared to dream, however latest hypothesis might have set us each up for disappointment.
My newest beacon of hope got here within the type of a “Plus” model of the customized Aerith APU that powers the Steam Deck, spotted within a shipping manifest by X user Olrak29_.
It isn’t the {hardware} leap many people have been hoping for, however the Aerith Plus APU does boast larger clock speeds and quicker LPDDR5X reminiscence help. It isn’t a lot, nevertheless it’s one thing. And for these eagerly awaiting a Steam Deck successor, one thing is sufficient to spark hypothesis.
Sadly, whereas the web picked up this ball and ran with it, fueling hypothesis of a Steam Deck 2 reveal on the soon-approaching horizon, a Valve worker has thrown a moist blanket over these embers of pleasure. Aerith Plus is not set for the Steam Deck 2, in any case.
So, what is it for?
Enter that one Valve worker who retains dashing my Steam Deck 2 goals
How do we all know the Aerith Plus APU is not Steam Deck 2-bound? Enter Pierre-Loup Griffais: Valve coder, Steam Deck mission member, and a person seemingly employed to make sure there’s all the time a penny positioned on the monitor, able to derail my very own private hype prepare at each flip.
Posting to his Bluesky account, Graffais wasted no time shutting down hypothesis over the APU forward of the weekend with a transparent and unmistaken two-word message: “Not occurring.”
This is not the primary time Griffais has publicly set the document straight. They previously took to Bluesky to smother recommendations that freshly revealed Ryzen Z2 APUs might energy a Steam Deck follow-up in January, as soon as once more clearly stating: “There may be and shall be no Z2 Steam Deck.” This definitively means that AMD‘s new APUs will not be the “Generational leap in compute” that Valve designer Lawrence Yang claimed would set off the corporate to think about creating a second-generation Steam Deck in an October 11 interview with Reviews.org.
With AMD having offered the horsepower that propelled each the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go with its Ryzen Z1 APUs, it felt as if this new technology of Z2 chips would offer Valve with the proper alternative to play catch-up with its contemporaries. Nevertheless, a part of me wonders: If not now, when? And can it occur in any respect?
There are different choices, that is one in all many
Sure, the Steam Deck 2 could also be additional afield than we would have hoped for by now, however that is to not say we do not have choices within the meantime. Maybe the closest factor to a Steam Deck 2 different is the Lenovo Legion Go S.
Lenovo‘s follow-up to the Legion Go makes use of an AMD Z2 Go APU, options an 8-inch, full-HD touchscreen show with a 120Hz refresh price, as much as 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, with an improved 12-Core RDNA 2 GPU and expanded 55.5Whr battery.
Higher nonetheless, whereas the model at the moment accessible to buy is a Home windows gaming handheld PC like its predecessor, the Legion Go S is about to turn out to be to first third-party handheld licensed to run Valve’s spectacular Linux-based SteamOS later this yr — providing the “really feel” and expertise of the Steam Deck with a number of {hardware} refreshes.
If not the Steam Deck 2, what’s Aerith Plus for?
Nonetheless, the query stays: If the Aerith Plus APU is not destined for the Steam Deck 2, what’s it for?
Truthfully, we will not say for sure. Nevertheless, it would not appear highly effective sufficient to energy Valve’s different rumored {hardware}, a standalone Deckard PCVR headset, and a revival of its Steam Machine.
My finest guess is that the Aerith Plus APU is destined for third-party SteamOS handhelds. It might present them with a serviceable efficiency enhance to distinguish them from the Steam Deck with out inflicting Valve any quick complications over how finest to deal with its Steam Deck verified badge as {hardware} sporting totally different and extra highly effective processors comes into play.
Whereas the Aerith Plus SPU will not energy a second-generation Steam Deck, I would not fully rule out the chance that it may very well be a part of a future {hardware} refresh for the hand held. However that suggestion solely leaves me open to extra pellets of disappointment as Pierre-Loup Griffais readies his blunderbuss to as soon as once more decide off my prayers on their technique to heaven.