Valve and the repair gurus at iFixit have both debunked rumors that they would need to stop selling replacement parts for the original LCD Steam Deck. The lingering question is: How long does Valve imagine it can keep supporting its four-year-old handheld, especially since you can’t even buy anymore?
Initial concerns about the Steam Deck’s end-of-life stemmed from a Reddit post detailing statements from iFixit’s customer service. The redditor claimed they were trying to get a replacement battery for their original Steam Deck, and iFixit replied it was “looking less likely we will continue receiving OEM Steam Deck LCD batteries, and we are actively evaluating aftermarket options.”
iFixit CEO Karl Weins took to Twitter to report Valve had sent the company a new batch of batteries. Separately, Valve told The Verge that iFixit would receive “the same OEM parts sourced through Valve’s partners that they always have.”
Valve has reached out and is sending us a new batch of Steam Deck LCD batteries!
iFixit will move heaven and earth to keep supporting these handhelds.
— Kyle Wiens (@kwiens) July 16, 2026
Steam Deck batteries are one of the most necessary parts to replace, given the 40Wh lithium polymer battery will inevitably lose capacity and performance over time. iFixit has promised it has an aftermarket supplier waiting in the wings should Valve ever quit supplying first-party battery replacements.
Wiens told The Verge he suspected Valve may have underestimated demand for these batteries, hence the supposed drought. Still, the Steam Deck makers haven’t clarified why this happened. Gizmodo reached out to Valve to confirm how long the company plans to support replacement parts for its LCD model Steam Deck.
Original Steam Deck buyers have a reason to remain concerned. Valve discontinued its 256GB Steam Deck LCD model late last year in favor of its improved OLED handheld. At release back in 2023, the Steam Deck OLED costs more than the LCD version but also offered a larger, 50Wh battery and a prettier, 7.4-inch screen. Then came the memory crisis. This year, Valve hiked prices of all remaining Steam Deck models. Now, a 1TB handheld costs $950. At those prices, Steam Deck LCD owners have no reason to even consider the upgrade.
There’s no way to buy an affordable Valve handheld without trawling through aftermarket shops and eBay listings. Currently, there are no “Certified Rerbished” listed in stock through Steam. Thanks to the skyrocketing costs of gaming hardware, players are now forced to stick with what they have or else shell out for handhelds like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X that costs $1,000. More powerful handheld gaming devices, like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, demand a whopping $1,800.
Valve’s $1,050 Steam Machine is a prime case for how the ongoing memory shortage has made new hardware untenable for most gamers. The last piece of Valve hardware, the Steam Frame VR headset, still doesn’t have a price or release date. At this point, you shouldn’t expect the Steam maker’s sequel to the Valve Index to be anywhere close to cheap.
