The Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t the only console attracting its fair share of leaks and rumors. Valve’s handheld Steam Deck, which lets players take their Steam library on the go, was recently the subject of rumors that a Steam Deck successor would feature some newly leaked hardware. However, Valve was quick to respond to the misinformation, sharing the reality of what’s next for the Steam Deck handheld console.
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Currently, players have a few choices when it comes to the Steam Deck. Valve offers LCD and OLED screens with storage from 256 GB to 1 TB. The OLED is the most recent version and was originally released in November 2023, making it just a little over a year old, whereas the Steam Deck itself is about to celebrate its third birthday in February 2025. Given that the lifecycle of a typical console like the PlayStation is anywhere from 5 years to the Nintendo Switch’s 7 year run, we’re not quite due for a new one just yet.
Typical life cycle or not, where there’s any inkling of something new, there will be rumors, and the latest one centers around some recently debuted processor tech. The Steam Deck uses the AMD Custom APU, designed specifically for the Steam Deck. It’s this tech, or a newly revealed version of it, that led to rumors about a new Steam Deck Z2 coming in the near future.
Valve Has No Plans for a Z2 Steam Deck
AMD, who designed the APU used for the current Steam Deck, recently announced their new lineup of Ryzen Z2 chips. According to The Verge, AMD mentioned that the chips would be featured in upcoming handhelds including the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus ROG Ally, and… Steam Deck. To add fuel to this fire, a leak showed off some slides from the briefing, which led fans to assume a Steam Deck using the Z2 line was all but confirmed. Except it isn’t, as Valve designer Pierre-Loup Griffais clarified in a recent BlueSky post.
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According to Griffais, “there is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck,” going on to say the slide probably included examples of the kind of tech the chip was designed for, not specific projects. The post appears to have originally been a quote of the leak or slide in question, which has since been deleted from the BlueSky platform. Asus, the company behind the ROG Ally, has been similarly tight-lipped about future plans, though without a specific denial.
For those wishing for an updated Steam Deck, wording matters here. Griffais’ post states there won’t be a Z2 Steam Deck. That doesn’t mean that Valve’s plan for new Steam Deck designs and an eventual Steam Deck 2 have been scrapped – just that it won’t include this specific chip, despite how things initially appeared after the AMD announcement. Given that AMD custom designed the last APU for Valve, it’s quite possible that another collaboration is the reason why Valve’s next Steam Deck won’t include the more broadly-used processor line.
