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Steam Deck 2 delay was right choice for Valve as mid-generation refresh would fare better
(www.notebookcheck.net)
Delay?? The original Deck isn't even 2 years old yet.
this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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The term "mid-generation" is pretty meaningless here as well. This is a first gen product, we have no idea how long they intend this version to remain relevant. We have no idea if they ever really planned a direct sequel device. We know really nothing. All these articles about a supposed follow-up device are pretty worthless IMO. There is zero reason to expect that Valve would be treating this the same as a normal console.
And still not officially for sale in many countries either.
"Delay" is a weird term to use. It was never even hinted that there would be one soon.
Delay is a weird way to phrase "not planned any time in the next few years."
That argument that any SoC upgrade wouldn’t be noticeable right now is partially true. A better SoC can be fabricated, but that would offset any cost Valve would willing to accept given the current Steam Deck pricing.
It’s better to wait for what AMD creates. Surely they’re preparing new RDNA and ZEN architectures, plus TSMC new nodes. Those guys have an special sub-node to target low power devices, being the latest the one Apple eats every iPhone launch.
If they pushed a new Steam Deck, it would be marginally better and most folks wouldn’t be so compelled to upgrade. Also, you fragment your development team, now you have to maintain two devices.
Yeah, it’s better to wait a good timing when AMD and TSMC aligns, then you push forward and you offset the prior 4 year old model.
Given how repairable the steam deck already is, it'd be nice if it could be pushed one step further and make some sort of mini-socket for the SoC.
Obviously that's not a Valve thing to do but an AMD, and trying to downscale a desktop CPU socket style is primed for failure (a lot of companies are soldering on for a reason), but if AMD could make a standardized "whole system chip" that can just be swapped every generation, you wouldn't have to purchase the chassis over and over again.
Annual phone refreshes make perfect sense.
You don't have to buy a new one every year. But a stable production cycle is very useful at the volume Apple moves. Spikes and troughs for a multiple year cycle would be much more difficult to manage, and if you do actually need a phone at the end of a 3 or 5 year production cycle, you end up with a product 2 or 4 years of development behind what you could have, without even getting the benefit of being able to get it at the price of a phone a couple cycles behind.
The steam deck is functionally a console. It doesn't have the volume to manage the same frequency of new devices.
Agreed and consoles have been shown to benefit from a longer cycle. Let devs get accustomed with the device and find ways to optimize games and engines for the specific configuration. I could see a mid cycle refresh with a lite version or an OLED/AMOLED screen (like the switch had) while keeping the same architecture.
I was going to make that point, but I don't think the steam deck gets quite the same benefit on optimization. It could, but it needs a lot more volume before devs seriously target it.
More because they can just sell it on PC and a lot of us will tolerate it pushing the hardware past its limit anyways. A PS5 version has an explicit level of responsibility that the Steam Deck doesn't, unless they're actively advertising it. (That's not deck verified, because developers don't decide that.)
Yeah, with steam deck it just gets improved by improvements in proton, not a lot of deck specific things are done. I'm noticing games are running smoother on my Linux desktop because of this work.
Annual phone refreshes make perfect sense.
Honestly, they don't though.
Yes, they absolutely do. It would completely murder the supply chains to have such massive droughts in demand, and it would be extremely hardcore fucking over customers who had to have a phone in the period near the end of those terrible cycles by immediately making their phones obsolete.
If Tim Cook announced tomorrow that he had a proven cure for cancer and that he was also cutting the phone cadence from one year to five, he should be fired the same day. Annual updates are the only valid approach.
The Steam Deck is fucking awesome, a refresh at this point would be ridiculous.
The only thing I can think of that would be appropriate right now is an updated, more efficient battery in a year
Even if it was just more serviceable, that would be amazing.
I don't need a higher spec Steam Deck, most of what I play is all 2D indie games anyway. What I really want to see someday is a Steam Deck Pocket in a DS-sized form factor.
Couldn't you just use a cellphone with a controller at that point?
Honestly all I want is a Steam Deck Mini. Fuck bigger and more powerful, I want a small indie/AA game machine that's easier to carry around and use as a handheld outside of the house. The Steam Deck has been primarily a bed machine for me.
What a dumb argument.
It is better for those who bought the Steam Deck on day 1. I will definitely buy Steam Deck 2.