Steam Deck 2 rumored to be in the works — and it may arrive with a massive AMD APU upgrade

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Will Valve finally deliver a home console, too?

Steam Deck OLED
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The rumored Steam Deck 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated gaming handhelds, and while it may be a while before it launches, Valve may finally have its reason to start working on its next-gen gaming device.

According to a recent Moore's Law is Dead podcast (via Notebookcheck), internal sources suggest that Valve is working on its next device, pointing to a Steam Deck 2. What's more, it's tipped to deliver a major performance boost based on a now-leaked AMD "Magnus" Zen 6 APU, which is expected to power the PS6 and next Xbox.

As reported, this processor is already rumored to be the driving force of next-gen consoles, as Moore’s Law is Dead found ties with codenames found in the leaked documents. Notably, "Mero," with this being an unused codename for the Steam Deck’s APU.

Has Valve found what will power its Steam Deck 2?

Steam Deck OLED

(Image credit: Future)

As per an interview with Valve’s SteamOS designer, Pierre-Loup Griffais, the company isn't “thinking about new hardware until next year at least.” That was back at CES 2025, and it's now looking like 2026 may be when we see this "new hardware."

To further back this up, Griffais also stated to The Verge that "changing the performance level is not something we are taking lightly, and we only want to do so when there is a significant enough increase to be had," when talking about a possible Steam Deck successor.

With this AMD "Magnus" APU with Zen 6 architecture now tipped to be involved with Valve's next-gen device, which is expected to offer a huge boost to performance in gaming, Valve may leverage some form of this processor to power its Steam Deck 2. Plus, seeing as it may be used in a PS6 or upcoming Xbox console, it should offer the "significant" performance leap Valve is after.

There's no telling when a Steam Deck 2 will arrive, but with AMD's Zen 6 expected to arrive in 2026 or 2027, it looks to still be a good while until we see what Valve has up its sleeve.

In the meantime, Microsoft's upcoming ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X are set to launch this fall, and there's at least a Lenovo Legion Go S with SteamOS to check out. Moreover, the Valve Deckard VR headset is tipped to be arriving soon.

With a first look at a leaked Lenovo Legion Go 2 prototype indicating a September launch, too, it's looking to be a big year for next-gen gaming handhelds.

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Darragh Murphy
Darragh Murphy
Computing Editor

Darragh is Tom’s Guide’s Computing Editor and is fascinated by all things bizarre in tech. His work can be seen in Laptop Mag, Mashable, Android Police, Shortlist Dubai, Proton, theBit.nz, ReviewsFire and more. When he's not checking out the latest devices and all things computing, he can be found going for dreaded long runs, watching terrible shark movies and trying to find time to game

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