The Steam Deck offers the option to swap out your storage, at least in theory, though Valve warns against such a move, and even the base model with an eMMC drive can accommodate an upgrade to the M.2 SSD. That said, there are plenty of other caveats on this topic, even outside of Valve's aforementioned advice. This is all from a Reddit post by someone who emailed Valve's Gabe Newell directly asking if the laptop would have a user-replaceable SSD, and the Valve president responded that the Steam Deck has a 2230 M.2 slot. . Obviously, we have to be careful with the information that comes from Reddit, but it seems that the official Steam Deck specifications have been updated as a result of the publication of this information. This specification now reads: “All models use 2230m2 plinth modules (not designed to be replaced by the end user). So "all models" also refers to the entry-level device, which opens up the possibility of upgrading the 64GB eMMC drive from the cheapest to a larger version. Of course, the presumption is that this storage eMMC is on a card inserted into the M.2 slot, as all models apparently use "socket modules" (meaning the eMMC is not soldered directly to the motherboard, with the M. 2 - although this is In that case, an M.2 upgrade might still be feasible.) Regarding potential upgrades, though, the issue is Valve's disclaimer that the system unit "is not designed to be replaced by the end user." ", which presumably means that the M.2 plug is buried inside the device in a way that would involve disassembling the whole thing in a way that voids the warranty (risking breaking the Steam Deck in the process, without any recourse).
Other potential hazards
Aside from that danger, there may be other hurdles for those who have heard this news and might therefore consider buying the cheaper Steam Deck model for a later player upgrade. First of all, M.2 SSDs in the 2230 form factor are slim to the ground and not cheap, and as Tom's Hardware, which caught all of this, notes, there can be parameters like heat levels with the drives. the replacement may not stick, and it's not hard to imagine how problematic that could be. On the software side, there's also the whole issue of installing the OS on the supplied drive and how to move it to the new SSD. No one will really know how these kinds of issues play out until the Steam Deck arrives and people start trying to mod the device (and the inevitable teardowns ensue). However, from what we can gather here, the average owner will want to avoid trying player upgrade cheats for all the reasons mentioned above, if an upgrade is viable in the first place. Today's best gaming laptop deals