iFixit Will Carry Steam Deck Replacement Parts

Lo and behold, Valve hath decreed further Steam Deck news from atop the hills of Bellevue! This news technically comes just a couple of hours after I wrote about Valve having released the computer aided design files for the Steam Deck’s case to any tinkerers out there who might be interested in that sort of thing. Now, because Valve has mastered the art of comedic timing, I find myself writing a second article on the same general topic within the span of under three hours. Let’s get to the juicy details, shall we?

You may remember that in this past article of mine on the Steam Deck, I included a link to Valve’s teardown video of the device. In that video, whomever Valve enlisted to do the voice-over essentially begged Steam Deck owners to “do as we say, not as we do” when it comes to opening their shiny, new handheld console. They made mention several times of the possibility that, to quote Valve’s Team Fortress 2 video titled Meet the Demoman, “One errant twitch – and kablooie!” They really don’t want people opening these things, it seems.

To that end, they didn’t take the actual teardown process very far. Instead, they only demonstrated how to access and replace the console’s thumbsticks and its internal solid-state drive. They did, however, make it a point to mention that third-party authorized sellers could possibly carry replacement components for the Steam Deck once the device has actually, officially hit the market. For the record, that’s scheduled to happen in about eight days at the time of writing. Today, Valve officially announced the first of those authorized sellers of the Steam Deck’s various internal machinations.

As you gleaned from this article’s title, that vendor is none other than iFixit. If you’re not familiar with them, I suggest that you watch almost any video from a prominent tech-focused YouTube channel, be it Gamers Nexus, Linus Tech Tips, Hugh Jeffreys, or their contemporaries. Chances are that iFixit has sponsored at least a few videos on all those channels, specifically to promote their “Pro Tech Toolkit” which reportedly contains all the bits and bobs you could possibly need to repair most electronic devices.

I think Valve has made an excellent choice in partnering with iFixit for everything that pertains to the Steam Deck. As a company, iFixit has made quite a positive name for itself, especially among those who support the Right to Repair movement that has been gaining steam (pun intended) in countries like the U.S. and Canada recently.

Now, before I tell you what I thought was the most tantalizing detail that was made public as a result of this partnership, I should mention that there seems to be a bit of a catch at play here. You see, although Valve has indeed confirmed their alliance with iFixit, neither party has stated exactly which Steam Deck parts iFixit will have in stock. So, if you’re hoping to purchase some upgrades for your Deck right out of the gate, you may have to wait a while and see what iFixit will carry.

Okay, let’s get to that most tantalizing detail I mentioned a second ago. In what seems like a light-hearted attempt at one-upping Valve’s aforementioned Steam Deck teardown video, iFixit posted its own video on that topic just a short while ago. It’s significantly more in-depth than Valve’s video was, and I’d say that’s for good reason because this sort of thing is exactly iFixit’s wheelhouse. I’ll link their teardown video below so that you can check it out for yourself if you’re curious.

The reason I bring that up is that, during the section where they detail how to access and replace (or more likely upgrade) the Deck’s SSD, they mention that even the least-expensive, lowest-tier model of the device has a slot for a solid-state storage drive. If that means what I think it means, that will enable souls brave enough to open their Steam Deck to do some surgery and upgrade the device’s 64GB of eMMC storage with a much faster, much more spacious drive.

That is, provided you can get your hands on an M.2 2230 SSD with the exact capacity you want. The 2230 is a different physical size than the normal 2280 you commonly see in modern desktop and laptop computers, so drives with higher capacities may be harder to find. Even so, I desperately hope this turns out to mean exactly what I think it means.

Now, I acknowledge that depending on the prices of the specific type of SSD the Steam Deck uses, I may not be saving much (if any) money if I buy one of those in conjunction with the $399 base model of the device itself. Moreover, if I went that route, I’d still have to take the risk of opening my new Deck and replacing the SSD myself. However, provided I can make all that happen, I think it would be one heck of a worthwhile investment when the time comes.

That’s also not even mentioning the built-in microSD card slot, either. If I had to, I could definitely make use of that when I get my Steam Deck until I can procure a new SSD. Regardless, I’m starting to ramble excitedly, so I’d better conclude this article before that goes on for too long. Tell me, dear reader: what do you make of Valve’s partnership with iFixit? Which parts do you hope the retailer will have in stock? Do feel free to sound off in this article’s comments if you’re so inclined!