AMD today introduced the Ryzen Z2 line of processors, set to power a new wave of portable gaming devices. While early news from the manufacturer seemed to suggest that a Z2-powered Steam Deck was on the way, a Valve developer came online to tell the world that no such product is in development.
This all started when VideoCardz.com published a series of slides detailing the capabilities of the Z2 series. One of those slides highlighted the “explosive growth” of the portable gaming market, including products like the Lenovo Legion Go, Asus Rog Ally, and, yes, Valve's own Steam Deck. A quick glance might suggest that AMD was saying that the Z2 would actually power the next version of each of these devices.
“There is and will be no Z2 Steam Deck,” Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais quickly clarified on Bluesky. “I guessed that the slide was intended to say that the series is intended for products like that, without announcing anything specific.”
A misinterpreted slide seems like a reasonable explanation for all this, but AMD has been strangely cautious about it. According to The Verge, AMD directly told reporters in a briefing that there would be a Steam Deck Z2 and, when asked in a follow-up, said the slide was “designed to highlight our current victories in portable device design.” As The Verge notes in its report, “that's not a denial.”
The Z2 series is set to deliver some notable performance improvements to whatever wearable you end up using, but it's unclear whether those gains will deliver a true generational leap. Valve has indicated that it intends to make a Steam Deck 2, but a “next-gen” power upgrade will be necessary before that happens.
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