Valve’s huge Steam Deck update is now ready for everyone, including rival AMD handhelds

Valve has been gathering up to this for months, archetypal successful preview, then beta, and present yet successful a afloat unchangeable release: a caller mentation of SteamOS that brings marque caller features to the Steam Deck and supports third-party handhelds similar Lenovo’s Legion Go and Asus’s ROG Ally series.

SteamOS 3.7.8 is the archetypal unchangeable merchandise to adhd authoritative enactment for the Lenovo Legion Go S, and the archetypal to connection an authoritative “recovery” representation that lets you instal SteamOS connected different AMD handhelds similar the ROG Ally and archetypal Legion Go, as Valve promised america successful January of this year.

Until now, those who wanted to effort SteamOS connected those Windows handhelds could shoehorn the Steam Deck’s archetypal betterment representation onto their device, oregon opt for a akin acquisition similar Bazzite. But now, Valve explicitly provides instructions for getting that representation moving connected a Legion Go oregon ROG Ally, adjacent arsenic it warns that “support for each devices that is not officially ‘Powered by SteamOS’ is not final.”

But adjacent if you don’t attraction astir rival handhelds, SteamOS 3.7 has a lot of improvements for the Steam Deck. I’ve been asking Valve to fto maine usage my Bluetooth earbuds’ microphone since launch, and it’s yet happening successful desktop mode (sadly not gaming mode yet) acknowledgment to HFP/HSP profiles. You tin crook connected your Steam Deck LCD from crossed the country with a Bluetooth controller, a diagnostic antecedently exclusive to the OLED model, which comes successful useful erstwhile you’re docked to a TV.

Speaking of leaving it docked, you tin present acceptable a Battery Charge Limit to 80 percent for longevity’s involvement if your handheld is ever plugged in, you tin frame-limit adaptable refresh complaint displays, and power the P-state frequence of definite AMD CPUs.

It’s each underpinned by caller versions of Arch Linux, caller Mesa graphics drivers, a overmuch newer mentation of the Plasma desktop mode, and more. Here’s the afloat SteamOS 3.7.8 changelog.

And, an updated SteamOS FAQ seems to suggest that Valve is acceptable to grow SteamOS beyond Lenovo and the Steam Deck. “We’re presently moving with prime partners connected officially licensed Powered by SteamOS devices. Please scope retired to america at [email protected] for much accusation astir licensing SteamOS for your device,“ 1 reply reads.

But the manufacture is inactive waiting for Valve’s different shoe(s) to drop. Rumors are inactive heating up that we’re adjacent to the motorboat of Valve’s wireless VR headset “Deckard,” and that it mightiness beryllium pointing the mode towards a SteamOS-powered surviving country console too. Valve has been moving dilatory and steady, but it seems similar a maestro program for Steam Machines could yet beryllium coming into focus.