Valve says Steam Deck OLED isn’t the next-gen Steam Deck 2, which is still 2-3 years away
Valve has reiterated that its next generation Steam Deck handheld is still a few years away, despite today’s announcement of a new OLED model.
The Steam Deck OLED will replace the launch version’s 7″ LCD screen with a new 7.4″ OLED one, delivering brighter colours and darker blacks while also supporting HDR.
It will also improve other components, including a longer battery life, an upgrade from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6E, improved thermals and a larger fan, and will weigh 30g less than the standard Steam Deck.
It will be available in 512GB and 1TB versions, with the old 64GB and 512GB LCD models being phased out and only the 256GB LCD model remaining as the new base level option.
However, despite the clear upgrade over its predecessor, Valve has made it clear to Bloomberg that the Switch OLED is merely that – an upgrade – and not the true ‘next generation’ Steam Deck it’s been discussing in recent months.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Steam Deck product designer Lawrence Yang says the team is still working on a ‘Switch 2’, which will feature a “next-generation” upgrade in power, but that it still won’t be available for “at least two or three years”.
Yang’s comments match those of Valve coder Pierre-Lou Griffais, who told The Verge in September that Valve wasn’t expecting to release a next-gen successor to the Steam Deck “in the next couple of years”.
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“It’s important to us that the Deck offers a fixed performance target for developers, and that the message to customers is simple, where every Deck can play the same games,” Griffais told The Verge at the time.
“As such, changing the performance level is not something we are taking lightly,
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