Upcoming APUs sporting Zen 4 cores and RDNA 3+ graphics are claimed to be much faster than existing chips, and look ideal for handhelds.
Honestly I think it's probably too soon for the kind of significant performance increase Valve is wanting for the Steam Deck 2. Not to mention that the OLED deck just came out. That said, even if these chips don't make it to a Deck 2 I'm sure we'll see them in competing devices.
It depends on efficiency, it's all good and well having more performance, but if the battery life is only 2 hours it's useless. I imagine Valve will wait a couple years yet.
Isn't it what Apple is doing? They downclock some of their components to extend battery life and make their machines run less noisy, which in my opinion is a clever move. As much as I hate Apple, I have to admit that their hardware is good.
Just guessing, I really don't expect a Steam Deck release this year. But 2025 seems quite likely to me.
Edit: Maybe the next Steam Deck will be based on Zen 6? It is expected roughly two years after the Steam Deck OLED release.
The Zen6 architecture might adopt an advanced manufacturing process, potentially combining 3nm and 2nm technologies, to further enhance performance and efficiency. The expected launch of the Zen6 "Medusa" CPUs is projected for the 2025-2026 period, showcasing AMD's strategic planning for future developments. - Source
The relevant metric is how much faster it is at the same power draw. The Z1 Extreme/7840U/8840U are faster compared to the Deck's APU, but at equal power limits there isn't too much in it.
@solberg@Fubarberry It already requires a colossal effort to run Windows games on Linux. Adding ARM to the equation would only be a solution looking for a problem.
The deck is already too weak to play most modern games. You can't play Madden 24 with a stable 30 FPS and sports games are perfect for handheld gaming devices.
The ROG ALLY seems to want to release new models every year or so to keep up and if the steam deck doesn't do the same I fear their sales will plummet until a new model comes out.