A Steam Deck SSD mod recently hit social media, which excited many owners who hoped to expand their internal storage. The modder replaced the relatively rare 2230 m.2 in their deck with a more common 2242-size one. However, the designer of the Steam Deck, Lawrence Yang, is warning users against performing this mod on their devices.
Steam Deck designer says SSD mod will “significantly shorten the life” of the device
The pcb appears to work fairly well for adapting a 2242 m2 to the steam deck, it doesn't collide with anything on the motherboard or put any extra strain on any cables. However, it does make the heat spreader bow a tiny bit. The back plate reassembled without issue. pic.twitter.com/4j4LVbS0NG
— Belly Jelly 🎸 (@TheSmcelrea) June 21, 2022
Last week, a modder revealed that you can install an m.2 2242 SSD in the Steam Deck with little apparent issue. However, the designer of the hardware, Valve’s Lawrence Yang, stated that this could cause significant problems in the long term with the device:
Hi, please don’t do this. The charger IC gets very hot and nearby thermal pads should not be moved. In addition, most 2242 m.2 drives draw more power and get hotter than what Deck is designed for. This mod may appear to work but will significantly shorten the life of your Deck. https://t.co/Kmup7Zov13
— Lawrence Yang (@lawrenceyang) June 25, 2022
“Hi, please don’t do this. The charger IC gets very hot and nearby thermal pads should not be moved. In addition, most 2242 m.2 drives draw more power and get hotter than what Deck is designed for. This mod may appear to work but will significantly shorten the life of your Deck.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard warnings about replacing the Steam Deck’s SSD. Valve has cautioned about installing a new m2 2230 drive as well, stating that non-stock SSDs could increase power draw or have increased EM emissions that could interfere with the device’s operation.
While the Steam Deck SSD is technically user replacable, Micro SD is the only officially supported way to expand your internal storage. Hopefully, if there’s a Steam Deck 2, Valve will revise the hardware to include the ability to use an m.2 drive in an expansion slot. The current model is packed pretty tightly. So, we imagine the chassis would have to be reworked to accommodate a 2280 drive which is the most common size of m.2 SSD.
So, if you were planning on installing an m.2 2242 SSD in your Steam Deck, you’ll probably want to hold off. It could be that Yang is being overly cautious, but we wouldn’t bet an expensive and hard-to-get piece of hardware on it.
In other news, fans are upset that Halo: MCC might get microtransactions, and Skull & Bones might finally get a release date in July.
