iFixit will sell almost every part of the Steam deck – including the entire motherboard

The era of repairing your own gadgets is almost here, and Valve’s Steam Deck handheld gaming PC is perhaps the best example yet – not only does it offer a repair-friendly design, it now looks one almost every part sold separately at iFixit.

Tonight, the company prematurely released a massive collection of its promised spare parts on its website, and we were surprised to see everything down to the last seat the mainboard with the AMD Aerith chip at the heart of the Steam deck will be available soon, admittedly for a whopping $350.

Image: iFixit

In fact, iFixit even sells parts that could be considered upgrades to an existing Steam deck – if you decide you’d rather have the anti-glare screen that only comes with the 512GB model, or the supposedly quieter Huaying fan , you’ll be able to snag these for $95 and $25 respectively. You can pay $5 more for a “fix kit” that has everything you need to make these repairs – which I would highly recommend for the screen. If you already have a spudger and screwdriver, you probably don’t need them for the fan.

Image: iFixit

In fact, iFixit was willing to send us a full US price list for each part it will sell in the first wave, 23 different parts in total:

GamingOnLinux also has a partial list of UK prices.

One thing you won’t see right away, however, is the Steam Deck’s battery, which is obviously a critical consumable for a battery-powered console that can easily drain in two hours. iFixit only has a placeholder link for the battery (and the SSD, thanks u/Fidler_2K @ Reddit).

So says Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit The edge about the battery:

We are building a Steam Deck Repair solution that includes all the step-by-step guides and parts you need to repair your deck. Our first release includes the parts and tools to complete most repairs. We don’t have a day-one solution for battery repairs, but we are committed to working with Valve to service these devices as they age. Battery changes are essential for the Steam Deck to stand the test of time.

He couldn’t say when they’ll go on sale beyond “soon.”

There are also no touchpads, D-pads, or buttons on the list just yet, although iFixit will sell the rubber membranes that go underneath. And no internal metal frame, EM shields or flexible ribbon cables. So it’s not like you can build a complete deck out of separate parts. But if you crack the plastic faceplate, it could be an easy $25 repair, and that can’t be said for most devices.

Image: iFixit

It’s pretty easy to get into the Steam Deck, by the way: when my thumbstick got a little sticky, I was able to get it out for cleaning by removing just seven screws (and snapping tricky little plastic clips, I’ll admit).

By the way, if you’re interested in Right-to-Repair and official parts, I put out a story this morning that you might like to read.