According to Valve, the long-awaited official Steam Deck is now available for order. The dock was originally scheduled to launch closer to the launch of Steam Deck, but this summer the launch was delayed due to supply chain issues.
Officially called the “Steam Deck Dock”, it works as a docking station for working with an external monitor or TV, as well as a charging station. It has three USB-A 3.1 ports, one USB-C pass-through charging port, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. It also includes a power supply, the same one that came with the Steam Deck. Valve says it can also run on the Steam Deck’s battery, but this affects port throughput.
The Steam Deck Dock is $89, and at least for now, you can buy it right now with relatively short shipping times. However, Valve says the product may switch to a reservation-based ordering process if demand starts to outstrip supply.
Speaking of reservation-based ordering processes, there’s some big news for Steam Deck as well.
For several months, potential Steam Deck buyers had to reserve the device and wait for an email from Valve. Demand far outpaced supply, but Valve said it was catching up. The company previously said it plans to complete all remaining orders by the end of the year.
The process seems to have gone well; you no longer need to pre-order to buy a deck on Steam in the US and Canada. Even people with no reservations can expect to receive the device within one to two weeks of ordering.
There’s another key development to keep in mind regarding the dock: Steam Deck has received a firmware update (SteamOS 3.3. and with third-party USB-C docking stations.
Before the introduction of the official docking station, third-party docking stations were the only option, but users and reviewers often complained that it was a bit twitchy – far from being a plug-and-play Nintendo Switch dock.
For example, SteamOS 3.3.2 adds “a user interface to select external display output resolution and refresh rate in display settings”and “avoids problematic resolutions like 4096×2160 or 30Hz modes on external displays automatically”.
The firmware update is now available for all Steam decks.
Listing image from Valve