this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2026
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Steam Hardware

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TL;DR: Valve's upcoming Steam Machine, set for release in 2026, aims to combine affordability and ease of use. Recent leaks suggest prices around $950 for a 512GB model and $1,070 for 2TB, comparable to high-end devices, though official pricing remains unconfirmed amid memory supply challenges.

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[–] lambipapp@lemmy.world 140 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Heads-up, the leak was from a non authorized retailer. So this has been confirmed to be more or less a retailers price speculation with added middle man mark-up. Take this leak for what it is, guesswork

[–] EvilBit@lemmy.world 53 points 1 month ago

ALSO: they include a 21% VAT

ALSO ALSO: They have said online that it was just a guess and that Reddit sucks

[–] Krafting@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

Especially when this specific retailers has the hight margin of them all, adding like 200$ to their steam deck prices...

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 70 points 1 month ago (3 children)

"An iPhone" is such a weird comparison to make.

In my region I can buy new iPhones from €119 (iPhone SE 32GB) to €2400 (iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB).

I hope the steam machine is somewhere in between this range.

[–] cholesterol@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

It's just a way to clickbait.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago

An unconfirmed leak of an estimation puts the price somewhere between 100 and 2500.

I'm tired boss.

[–] nyctre@piefed.social 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, I read the title and had no idea what number to expect. My first thought was 1.5-2k.

Also, that's an easy wish right there. It will 100% be somewhere in between those numbers, don't worry.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Also, that's an easy wish right there. It will 100% be somewhere in between those numbers, don't worry.

That was my joke.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 40 points 1 month ago (5 children)

I love all the articles going "It's going to cost more than you expect!!!" and I'm like "Really? Because I 'expected' around $1,000..."

It's like people haven't been watching pricing in the last year or so...

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah. I've paid $1,000.00 for a solid gaming PC before, and got much worse results than I expect from "A SteamDeck that knows it is plugged in."

Kind of a non-news item, to me.

I'm not buying a new model every year at that price, but if I expect it to last 5-10 years, I'll probably end up buying one.

A bunch of this is going to come down to Valve's build quality, warranty support, and whether these Steam Machine are repairable or not.

[–] pathief@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I was hoping for a 700/800 euros TBH. 1k is kinda pushed since this is going to be marketed as a console, a kinda underpowered one at that.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

800 Euros is $930 US which is probably close to reality, but the problem is gaming pricing as a rule looks at the number as being comparable without conversion.

So you get sillyness like the PS5 Pro launching at $699 US but £699 and €799. Even though that conversion comes out to be $699 $937 and $930.

I could see them launching at $1,000 US and then trying to go "Well, that's the same as £1,000 or €1,000" when it's not.

[–] RunawayFixer@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I expect the €799 to include vat, while the $699 will be without. $930 /1.25 = $744, which is a lot more reasonable. Sony using the same sale price for the whole eu when each country has different vat rates, is probably because of profit maximization. Too many people only look at the first digit in 799.99, so no matter if after currency conversion + vat the price is €720 (20%) or €762 (27% in Hungary), they'll just slap on the sale price of €799.99.

[–] Xttweaponttx@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Right, though?? I've been expecting like 700-900$ range and have been satisfied knowing that'll be the price! They've proven their hardware slaps and their software sucks the least - I don't meet to know anything else to be sold!

[–] BaroqueInMind@piefed.social 3 points 1 month ago

What if I told you it also sucks your cock while doing your taxes?

[–] leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Seriously, how was anyone expecting less than $1,000 (plus VAT) before the RAM bubble?

Given the current RAM prices anything less than $2,000 would almost certainly be selling it at a loss, or as a kit without RAM, so I expect Valve will just have to cancel it.

Shit's fucked.

[–] FatVegan@leminal.space 2 points 1 month ago

I find it quite interesting that people just put a 500 dollar price tag on it since the first leaks. And now everyone thinks it's too expensive no matter what, because there is no way it's 500 dollars.

[–] cecilkorik@piefed.ca 31 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Whether it's true or not, I've heard a lot of people complaining about the possibility of a price point like this and it really blows my mind how twisted people's expectations are about these price points. Like people line up overnight for a chance to buy iPhones, the same as the one already in their pocket but with a new function in the camera app or something, and then you get something that is almost an entirely new class of product and far more capable for the same price at a time when we're facing unprecedented shortages, and people are pissed off about it? Double standards much?

I wish it was $200 too, but like, we don't live in that world anymore. I'm sorry, but that world died from Covid and any medicine that could've cured it was lost in trade wars and its corpse was blown up in real wars. It's not coming back.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

For real! And you see all those comments about "Why isn't it priced like a console?" and I'm like "My brother in Christ, have you SEEN console prices lately?" $600, $650, $700, $750, $800?

Handhelds are even worse.

[–] tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

People are accustomed to consoles being unnaturally cheap, and even as manufacturing costs sky-rocket manufacturers are still eating a lot of that increase because they don't want to lose sales to the competition, and expect they can make money back later on game sales and online service subscriptions.

Valve meanwhile doesn't have that approach, and will be selling the the Steam Box for at least what it costs.

It will be exactly the same story with the Steam Frame - everyone is hoping it will be price-competitive with the Meta Quest but I can almost guarantee it won't. It will be FAR more expensive.

Why? Because Meta are making money back later with advertising, and selling your data, while Valve are just providing a device.

If you want a little privacy, Linux support, and hardware you control, you'll have to be prepared to pay a premium for it.

[–] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 29 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That’s a few hundred dollars more than I hoped, but because of the slop-manufactured memory situation, I’m not surprised.

[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I'd expect at least the first wave to not be affected by slopocalypse pricing. To target a 1Q26 release date they had to have contracts well in advance.

[–] leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

Micron is altering the contract, pray they don't alter it any further.

[–] kboos1@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"Cost as much as an iPhone", I'm not sure if you're complaining about how expensive the iPhone is or the Steam Machine.

According to the site, the SM will be around $1,100 for the upgraded storage and the cheapest iPhone is around $1,000, so I fail to see the comparison.

Assuming it is around $1,000 that's not a deal breaker. I heard that the leak came from a store in Europe so I would expect the price to be much lower because we won't be spending retail.

In the US a Steam Deck is about $200-$300 more retail than if you buy it direct. So if they says $1,100 then I would expect the SM to be closer to $800, which would be closer to a lowerend gaming PC

[–] drkt@scribe.disroot.org 22 points 1 month ago

No it has not

It is speculation from an unauthorized reseller who is guessing.

[–] devfuuu@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

As expected. It's an expected price. It's a pc for playing in a small cube form. I have no idea why anyone thought it would be cheaper. So many phones already are above that price point.

[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 month ago

Not too surprising, subtract around $400 and that’s what the price probably would have been without ram prices exploding.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 9 points 1 month ago

I was expecting PS5 performance at PS5 Pro prices.

The recent leaks will be including 21% VAT in Czech Republic too. It's about the same as the PS5 Pro in the UK.

It's not a great value proposition, but depends how much you value open source.

[–] MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is clickbait. Valve didn't use third-party resellers with the Steam Deck for anti-scalping reasons, and it's unlikely they would for the Steam Deck as well. I'm surprised how many news outlets are leaning into this.

I'm not saying the Steam Machine won't be that price, though I certainly hope it won't be. I'm just saying we shouldn't take a random posting from a random Czech website at face value, considering Valve's established business model.

[–] Gerudo@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've been anticipating $800+, and with storage and ram now, I honestly doubt less than $900. Look at current gaming handheld and console pricing. 1k isn't an insane prediction with current markets.

[–] cardfire@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I paid about $450 for mid-range Mini PC and another $450 for a smallish egpu that should match the performance of what's going in the Steam Machine. That was before the Rampocalypse, and I would still expect valve company to have contracted with manufacturers and component packages upstream from the public announcement so I'm still crossing my fingers people can buy these things for sub $1000.

Hot take: I think they should only allow any one Steam account to purchase one or two units total and require at least one paid game purchase in the account history, thus frustrating the efforts of scalpers and office businesses trying to get at productivity machines for cheap.

That works out to a $1 USD fee and an extra 3 minutes of effort, if they're going to be cheap about it.

[–] absquatulate@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Is this Valve's way of gauging the market? Cause it sure feels like it

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 month ago

Well likely their cost for memory has gone up by a few hundred in the last month or 2

[–] artyom@piefed.social 3 points 1 month ago

DOA at that price but I don't believe it.

[–] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

800-900 is what they can ask for it I guess. If it’s more it’s gonna get slow sales, which could be okay as Valve doesn’t really need it the way Sony needs a Playstation to sell.

I don’t think I’ll buy it on release as my Steam Deck is good enough for me alongside my Playstation. I might buy it after its first price drop (if it doesn’t increase instead).

[–] Sharkticon@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago

Woof. That's going to be a no for me dog.

[–] rotopenguin@infosec.pub 2 points 1 month ago

This is all assuming that the dollar is worth anything in the future. The way things are going, uh maybe not

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago
[–] MyOpinion@lemmy.myserv.one 1 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] hydrashok@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Valve doesn’t sell hardware at a loss. $1k is pretty normal for a phone or laptop these days, and in line with what I would expect from a device like this.

Now, that may be more than you’re willing to pay for it, but I don’t think the price is exorbitant.

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The Steam Deck is $650 for the 1TB OLED version.

The Steam Machine reportedly has 6x the power and a 2TB version.

Why is $950 out of the realm of possibility?

[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 8 points 1 month ago

It's essentially a specialized gaming laptop without the screen. Of course it's going cost as much as a laptop.

If people want a cheaper alternative, the 512GB Steam Deck—which is weaker than the Machine and also essentially a laptop—costs $550, and it can connect to people's TV's as well.

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