Valve’s Steam Deck might be poised for a refresh but it’s not what you think

Valve’s Steam Deck could be getting a small refresh, according to South Korean certification documents. But, don’t expect a whole new device.

The Steam Deck has been out for just over a year, and Valve has no intention of releasing a successor any time soon. However, there’s always room for a hardware refresh. Every piece of hardware during its lifecycle will be refreshed.

Whether through an in-between step like the rumored PS5 Slim or small updates to the internals to cut manufacturing costs, it’s nothing new. The recent South Korean certification to Valve for a piece of radio hardware – which turned out to be a Wi-Fi module – appears to be for an upcoming Steam Deck refresh. The news was first shared by tech pundit Brad Lynch.

Valve Corporation Model: 1030 seems to be a revised Steam Deck model with AT LEAST a new Wi-Fi card capable of the 6E (6Ghz) spectrum pic.twitter.com/OLjzTPVXlr

— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) October 4, 2023

Valve’s updated Wi-Fi module would also support Bluetooth 5.2, which is currently limited to 5.0 for the current Steam Deck model.

The potential refresh could include this new Wi-Fi 6E module, which would increase the download speeds by a significant margin. Currently, the Steam Deck houses a Wi-Fi 5 module, which provides fast speeds but pales in comparison to the updated 6E protocol.

When originally seen, the module was thought to be getting certified for Valve’s successor to the Valve Index, currently known as Deckard. While this hasn’t been the case, rumors did flare up shortly after as Steam’s VR mode got a significant update.

Steam Deck refresh could be on the way with updated Wi-Fi

Dexerto

It wouldn’t be the first hardware refresh that the Steam Deck gets. Sometime after launch, it was found that the fans inside had been swapped over for a different batch. Valve wants to keep the Steam Deck simple for its users and developers alike, with one unified piece of hardware to target.

Introducing an updated version would potentially splinter the user base, if by a fraction. Tinkerers and other users have already modded their own systems to include Wi-Fi 6E modules, and there’s even a rising case of people unsoldering the RAM to increase performance.