iFixit will sell nearly every part of Valve's Steam Deck, including its $350 motherboard with the AMD Aerith chip, and upgrades to the fan and the screen
Context & Ripple Effects
When Valve announced the Steam Deck in 2021, it committed to a repairability posture few console makers take — and followed through in February 2022 by partnering with iFixit to sell replacement parts. This announcement is the payoff: nearly the entire Deck is now purchasable, down to the $350 motherboard with the AMD Aerith chip.
The parts catalog matters beyond the original Deck. By late 2023, iFixit's teardown of the Steam Deck OLED scored Valve's handheld 9/10 for repairability, ahead of Lenovo's Legion Go at 7/10 — evidence that the parts pipeline helped make repairability a competitive spec in the handheld market.
First-order effects
- Steam Deck owners can now fix failed hardware themselves or via third-party shops, with the $350 Aerith motherboard making board-level failures repairable rather than total losses.
- iFixit gains a high-volume console parts business, with upgrades like the fan and screen giving owners a reason to buy beyond pure repair.
Second-order effects
- Rival handheld makers face repairability as an explicit comparison point — Lenovo's Legion Go was later scored 7/10 against the Deck OLED's 9/10, so parts availability becomes a differentiator in marketing and reviews.
- A functioning aftermarket parts supply extends each Deck's usable life, which supports Valve's interest in keeping the installed base active on its platform rather than churning hardware.
Third-order effects
- If Valve's template holds, handheld and console makers shift from sealed, warranty-only hardware to published parts catalogs, making repairability a scored, comparable product attribute — as iFixit's side-by-side teardowns already treat it.
- The Valve-iFixit model stands in contrast to the Samsung split, where iFixit's Kyle Wiens said the company 'does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale' — suggesting parts partnerships, not right-to-repair mandates alone, will decide which devices stay fixable.
The trend: Handheld gaming hardware is moving toward user-serviceable design with official parts catalogs, with Valve's Steam Deck setting the benchmark rivals like Lenovo are now scored against.