Steam-Deck Pro?

[Peanut]

Are we getting a SteamDeck Pro model?
I was about to buy the SteamDeck, until I researched how poor the performance is now the Ryzen Z1 Extreme seems to be the standard going forward.

The Rog-Ally and the upcoming Legion-Go both use the Z1. The way I see it the current SteamDeck model isn't good enough for cost to performance ratio Vs other handheld gaming devices out or arriving shortly. Especially playing the more graphically demanding games.

If a Pro model was on the horizon, I'd happily go with a SteamDeck over other devices just for how polished Steam is.

[Mailer]

Not likely for at least another couple years, but we do know that they are interested in making another model eventually:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-community-continues-to-blow-our-minds-valve-talk-the-steam-deck-one-year-on#:~:text=Either%20way%2C%20it%E2%80%99s,a%20few%20years.%22

[RSebire]

Not happening.
The deck will be around for quite some time yet.
Unlike the flash in the pan devices that come and go.
The Deck actually has something going for it.

You know the new iPhone 15 has 4x the ray tracing a PS5 has?

But yet again, having the power is nothing, if you do not know how to use it.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by RSebire:

Not happening.
The deck will be around for quite some time yet.
Unlike the flash in the pan devices that come and go.
The Deck actually has something going for it.

You know the new iPhone 15 has 4x the ray tracing a PS5 has?

But yet again, having the power is nothing, if you do not know how to use it.

A better version is in very early development.

[2016 XXL Freshmen Cypher]

IDK

[Satoru]

Seems unlikely, any retooling and re-sourcing of materials is going to costs a lot of moeny and R&D and vavle would likely want to recoup costs of manufacturing by producing at a reasonable scale first.

Like I'm sure they're developing a 'version 2' rgiht now. You have to be if you want that to be done within a reasonable timeframe. but given the global shipping and manufactruing issues in general I'd wager they'd like to ride out the benefits of scale for as long as they can.

Note that generally speaking especially with highly integrated devices like a SteamDeck, its very very difficult to do replacements of core components without basically redoing the entire design. Like you can swap out capacitor manufacturer and RAM manfucatures, and even display manufacturers relatively easily since you can find the same thing from a different source (as shown with the 2 different fan models). These are commodiies and are basically interchangable as long as you can find a similar place that can give you the same specifications.

But you're not going to be able to replace any major things like the CPU without basically a major redesign

[Peanut]

Okie doke, guess it's the Legion Go as the winner.
Kind of a Switch,Steamdeck and Ally all in one, perfect.

[Haruspex]

The Z1 Extreme is capable of more performance, but only at a higher TDP which increases heat output and decreases battery life. As an example the ROG Ally will give you a whopping 40 minutes of battery life from 100% charge when you run it at full blast, and the heat will roast your SD card into oblivion thanks to an oversight in the thermal design.

A Steam Deck 2 will likely utilize a next generation chip that provides more performance at lower TDP. This remains very important in a portable with battery tech as it is now. Valve worked directly with AMD to come up with a custom chip tailor made to meet the needs of what they were trying to do with the Steam Deck. I expect they'll do the same again.

Meanwhile, I still think the Steam Deck offers the perfect balance of price, performance, and battery life with what's available today. You can't really improve one of those three categories without hurting the other two.

The Legion Go is an interesting device. Ultimately I fear it still suffers from a case of "bigger number better". It has a 2k display at 144 hz, even though it's hardware can't hope to actually run new games at that resolution and framerate. And with all these competing devices, the companies selling them to you have zero stake in continued support of the hardware. Once you buy it, they don't really care anymore. They have no incentive to provide further support. On the other hand Valve has very good reason to ensure the Steam Deck remains well supported and functional for years to come. A working Steam Deck in the hands of a happy customer equates directly to more sales on Steam. It's kind of the console business model, but without a terrible walled garden of a console ecosystem.