TL;DR: Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine, set for release in 2026, aims to combine affordability and ease of use. Recent leaks suggest prices around $950 for a 512GB model and $1,070 for 2TB, comparable to high-end devices, though official pricing remains unconfirmed amid memory supply challenges.
Yeah. I’ve paid $1,000.00 for a solid gaming PC before, and got much worse results than I expect from “A SteamDeck that knows it is plugged in.”
Kind of a non-news item, to me.
I’m not buying a new model every year at that price, but if I expect it to last 5-10 years, I’ll probably end up buying one.
A bunch of this is going to come down to Valve’s build quality, warranty support, and whether these Steam Machine are repairable or not.