iFixit has a Steam Deck teardown — and will officially sell replacement parts from Valve – The Verge – Entertainments

Valve’s $400-and-up Steam Deck handheld is less than two weeks away from launch, but you can already see its guts spread across a table in no fewer than four teardown videos, including a new one published today by our friends at iFixit. What’s more, Valve has announced today that it’s making good on its promise to sell replacement parts for the Steam Deck so you can repair it yourself, and it has made iFixit the first authorized seller of parts for both the new Deck and the existing Valve Index VR headset.

Unfortunately, Valve isn’t yet saying which parts will be available — when I asked if the Deck’s screen and battery might be among them, Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang told me it’s still working with iFixit to hammer the details out.

But it might not be too surprising if those key components aren’t made available right away since iFixit’s teardown shows they’re among the hardest to remove.

In the video teardown, iFixit praises many elements of the Steam Deck’s repairability, like how it takes just three screws to easily replace each thumbstick or a single screw and a slip-on EMI shield to replace the SSD.

But the screen has a bit of adhesive that’ll mean you’ll need careful application of heat and some suction cups — and the battery looks even harder to dislodge.

Image: iFixit

“Battery replacements definitely seem to be the Steam Deck’s Achilles heel,” says iFixit’s video narrator, repeatedly attacking the adhesive with flat scraping tools and eventually managing to pry the 40.04Wh, 7.7V, 5313mAh pack out.

iFixit also shows off the handheld’s magnesium internal frame, some unusual springs that give the touchpads some physical clickability, and the wires that power the touchpads atop each stick (which can let you activate gyro aiming in games without taking your thumbs off the sticks; it’s pretty neat).

Image: iFixit

Want even more visibility inside the Steam Deck? You’ve got three other teardowns to watch, too, like this one from GamersNexus that goes super in-depth on the Steam Deck’s power circuitry and thermals:

Or this terribly named one from Linus Tech Tips that he did live:

LTT’s teardown gives us our best look at Valve’s custom AMD APU, dubbed “Aerith” after the Final Fantasy VII heroine:

Image: Linus Tech Tips

You can also now 3D print Steam Deck shells and design accessories since Valve released the CAD files the other day. And I’ll be bringing you a full review of the Steam Deck once the launch embargo lifts.