Andrew Heinzman
Late last year, Valve shared an official Steam Deck teardown video, proving that its first portable console will be user-repairable. The company also promised to sell replacement Steam Deck parts, and it now says that iFixit will be one of its authorized dealers.
Update, 5/23/22: Here’s the full list of Steam Deck parts offered by iFixit.
It’s an exciting development, to say the least. Despite the fact that every modern console suffers from joystick drift, Valve is the only company to offer customers a clear and official solution to this and other common problems.
Today, we’re announcing that iFixit will be one of the authorized sellers of Steam Deck replacement parts — as well as replacement parts for the Valve Index VR products. We are still hammering out the details, and will be sharing more info on this soon.
And as shown in a new iFixit teardown, the Steam Deck is incredibly easy to take apart and repair. Everything is clearly labeled, you can replace the screen without disassembling the console, and you can even upgrade the device’s internal storage with nothing but a screwdriver. (Just be careful when replacing the battery, which is the only thing iFixit had trouble with.)
Valve says it’s still working out its deal with iFixit, which makes sense, as the Steam Deck doesn’t launch until February 25th. To be clear, we don’t know what replacement parts Valve will sell through iFixit, and the company may find additional outlets to sell its parts.
