Valve wants to make Steam Deck updates more convenient

Last week, Valve surprised us with the announcement of three new hardware products. None of them were a second-generation Steam Deck, but a Valve hardware engineer teased that the company’s thinking about a requested quality-of-life update for its handheld: to allow docked Steam Decks to update automatically, the same way the upcoming Steam Machine can while it’s idle.

According to The Verge, Valve’s Yazan Aldehayyat told the publication that automatic docked updates are “something we are really interested in supporting.” Aldehayyat didn’t commit to bringing the feature to Steam Deck, but that Valve is thinking about it at all seems like a good sign.

Currently, the Steam Deck can’t download or install updates while in sleep mode, even if it’s docked. But as Aldehayyat told The Verge, the upcoming Steam Machine will be able to download and apply updates while you’re not using it, with its built-in LED strip reporting update progress while your display or TV is turned off.

Aldehayyat says that that’s something he’d like to see on the Steam Deck, too: seamless background updates while the unit is connected to a dock. There are extra considerations for these kinds of updates on handhelds, Aldehayyat says, like the increased possibility of losing power or Wi-Fi connection when the system is removed from its dock. Still, the interest is there.

Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine, a compact, pre-built gaming PC made be easy to use in the living room, was announced last week along with an updated Steam Controller and a new Steam Frame VR headset. The new hardware is expected in early 2026, but Valve hasn’t shared pricing info yet.