Valve has once again dropkicked the dreams right out of anyone hoping a whizzier, more powerful Steam Deck might be happening soon; it's now provided a clearer timeframe for what it considers to be the current Steam Deck's minimum life span, saying not to expect any kind of performance upgrade "in the next couple of years".
Valve has, of course, tempered expectations for a souped-up Steam Deck sequel previously; in December, Deck designer Pierre-Loup Griffais said the company would likely keep a single performance spec, ie. the current one, for its handheld gaming PC "a little bit longer", noting any initial hardware improvements would probably focus on screen and battery capacity.
But now, speaking to The Verge, Griffais has indicated that "little bit" will likely be a lot longer, and that any Steam Deck performance upgrades are still some considerable way off. "It's important to us that the Deck offers a fixed performance target for developers," he explained, "and that the message to customers is simple, where every Deck can play the same games."