Inside every Steam Deck beats a little AMD heart, pumping out Zen 2 performance and RDNA 2 graphics. It’s a proprietary APU made exclusively for Valve’s handheld that you won’t find in any other device. It’s the secret blend of herbs and spices that has kept the Steam Deck at the forefront of the conversation about handheld PC gaming for the last few years.
Not every competitor can splash the cash on exclusive APUs, and Valve’s deep pockets have been able to keep the Steam Deck relatively safe (thanks to an impressively accessible price tag). However, all that will change on the day AMD reveals faster, more powerful chips readily accessible to every handheld device that vies for the Steam Deck’s crown.
That day is today, and those chips are the AMD Ryzen Z1 and the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme.
