With less than two weeks to go before Valve’s $400 Steam Deck handheld game console goes on sale, iFixit took a teardown of the handheld today, and more importantly, Valve announced today Delivering on its promise to sell replacement parts for the Steam Deck so players can repair it themselves, it announced iFixit as the first authorized parts seller for Steam Deck and Valve Index VR.
Valve hasn’t specified which parts will be available, and it’s still working with iFixit to determine the details. Whether replacement parts are available for the screen and battery is uncertain, and iFixit’s teardown shows them to be among the most difficult parts to remove.
In the teardown video, iFixit praised many elements of the Stream Deck’s repairability, such as the ease of changing the stick with just three screws, and the replacement of the SSD with just one screw and a slip-on EMI shield.
However, the screen is a little sticky, which means careful heat and some suction cups are required, and the battery is more difficult to remove.
Battery replacement is definitely the Achilles heel of Steam Deck, and he repeatedly shoveled the adhesive with a flat scraping tool and finally managed to pry out the 40.04Wh, 7.7V, 5313mAh battery pack, said iFixit’s video commentator.
iFixit also showed off the Steam Deck’s magnesium internal frame, with some unusual springs inside to give the touchpad some physical clickability, as well as wires to power the touchpad on each controller (this allows you to play to activate gyro aiming without removing your thumb from the handle).
The final iFixit score for Steam Deck Repairability was 7 out of 10. Valve released CAD files a few days ago, and anyone can 3D print Steam Deck shells and design accessories.