Valve has declared that there is no Steam Deck featuring the upcoming AMD Z2 processor, and there are no plans to create one despite recent rumors.
With companies like Lenovo and MSI releasing their own iterations of handheld PCs, the anticipation for the next Steam Deck grows exponentially with each passing day. Recently, Lenovo announced that Valve would even share the stage with them during their Legion Go event at CES 2025.
A leak from Videocardz showed off two new upcoming AMD processors, the Z2 and Z2E. Within the article, it’s proclaimed that both ASUS and Lenovo devices will utilize the chips in future devices, but also that it will be found in a future iteration of Valve’s Steam Deck.
Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the public facing developers for the Steam Deck, took to Bluesky to dispel any rumors of the chips being used in a Steam Deck at any capacity.
There is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck. Guessing the slide was meant to say the series is meant for products like that, not announcing anything specific.
— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@plagman.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 8:02 AM
When making the original Steam Deck, Valve opted to use a custom made APU that allows for them to finely configure how it would be utilized within a Deck. Thanks to work done by Boiling Steam early in 2024, we can see how detailed and concise Valve was when designing the chip overall.
Steam DECK APU cores; image sourced from Boiling Steam
The next version of the Steam Deck may very well be the dream many retro handheld enthusiasts have been dreaming for. With the current Steam Deck’s power, gamers can enjoy full speed PS2 emulation as well as hundreds of full PC games on the go. With new chips and processors being announced and shown off during CES 2025, it’s easy to see why gamers are eager to figure out what kind of power will be found in the next Steam Deck.
Sadly, until Valve announces something definitive in regards to the next Steam Deck, all we can do is speculate. However, with the consistent delivery on promises and transparency the Steam Deck has seen thus far, expectations for the next are at an all time high.
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