(Opens in a new window) Several days ago, a Twitter user posted details of a particularly interesting mod that involves swapping the 2230 model SSD with a larger 2242 drive. Whereas the interior of the average smartphone is little more than metal spaghetti, the Steam Deck has modding potential.

That's a pleasant departure from the standard 2022 approach of making disposable hardware that'll go in the trash in a few years. Valve designed the hardware to be easily repaired, and it plans to make all the parts available for purchase. The Steam Deck is essentially a compact Linux computer that (more or less) fits in your hands. However, one of its designers is now warning against a newly popular mod, saying it could cause the console to overheat. One of the oft-cited advantages of the Deck is its high repairability and modding potential. Even in the era of the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck is back-ordered into next year. Valve has fiddled with its own gaming hardware over the years, but neither the Steam Boxes, nor the Steam Controller, nor the Index VR headset have garnered the same praise as the Steam Deck.

The valve steam deck