Lawrence Yang and Pierre-Loup Griffais, designers of the Steam Deck, revealed in an interview with the Verge (opens in new tab) that Valve is planning an update (opens in new tab) to its pocketable gaming PC Steam Deck The plans include both hardware and software upgrades.

When asked what they would most like to see improved in the revised Steam Deck, both Yang and Griffais cited the screen and battery life as leading candidates, although they declined to give specific details. However, it seems unlikely that there will be any immediate improvement in the machine's performance.

"The fact that right now all Steam Decks can play the same games and there is one target for users to understand what performance level they should expect when playing and what developers should target ...... There is a lot of value in having this one spec," Griffais said. 'I think we would opt to keep one performance level for a little longer and only consider changing performance levels if there is a significant benefit to be gained.'

Speaking of the batteries in the steam deck, they are set to be easier to replace. The current model's battery is one of the few components that is difficult to replace thanks to the extensive use of adhesives. This is unfortunate, given that the battery is arguably the most wear-prone component of the machine.

"We changed the shape of the adhesive to make it easier to loosen the battery," says Yang.

Another fix relates to Bluetooth audio: because Steam Deck uses a high-quality streaming codec by default, audio lag can be noticeable when using Bluetooth headphones with the Deck. As a solution, we plan to allow users to select a lower audio quality mode.

From a broader hardware perspective, Yang and Griffais like the idea of the Steam Deck inspiring a new generation of desktop Steam Machines, but Valve has no plans to build that box themselves.

"We look forward to people building their own SteamOS machines, such as a small PC that would sit next to a TV," says Yang. However, Griffe points out that Valve has too much going on at Deck to get into desktop box manufacturing. Says he, "Right now, Deck is so busy that we can't be all over the place at once."

As for the software, a number of new features and fixes are planned. Sharing per-game settings profiles with other Deck users, more game-specific performance optimizations, a new audio mixer that allows users to control sound levels for games, music, and chat individually, and a new audio mixer, previously only found on smartphones. The introduction of legacy mobile games is included in that list.

In short, Valve has a lot of exciting things planned for the 2023 Steam Deck.