Mysterious photo of possible Steam Deck hardware revision surface

A new hardware revision of the Steam Deck has been spotted in the wild. At first glance, the revision appears to change two things. The top image here is the design of the current model. The bottom is the new design.

First to note: the placement of the audio cable. It no longer runs over top of the battery.

The biggest thing I notice, though, is the thermal management. A new fan, a shorter heat pipe, and new bracing mechanism. We can also infer that the mainboard of this model has been redesigned as the APU is presumably underneath the cooler. This means the RAM chips have also been moved.

What could this change mean? Is this the Steam Deck 2? Nope. The fact is: consumer electronics manufacturers do this all the time. This is more than likely a revision to improve cooling and other hardware concerns.

I’m interested to hear your take on this hardware revision. Did I miss something obvious? Leave me a comment below.