I thought Steam Deck's APU chip was smaller, but it's 163 mm². AMD Z1 is 137 mm². I guess Valve doesn't need a custom 10W APU, as Z1 is configurable down to 9W (but "Default TDP 28W").
1. Limiting the power of known AMD APUs down to 10W TDP would cost VALVE, with all the verification etc.,: 500k.
2. If VALVE wants the same power APU and hence same size Steam Deck 2 size as SD1, then maybe a native 10W APU would be preferred? AI says that a custom native 10W TDP APU would cost $50M–$70M+ (Breakeven 2-3 million units sold) on a N5 node and $70M–$130M+ (3-5 million additional units sold) on a 3N node. "Valve's net income for 2025 is estimated at over $2.5 billion" I'm not an expert in this, but it looks like VALVE has the money for a native 10W chip.
Maybe the question comes down to what do VALVE's Steam Deck customers want, a possibly bulkier design around an AMD Z APU, or the current (custom chip (initially designed for/by someone else, but VALVE used it in Steam Deck? and now VALVE would have to pay for a custom design if they want one)) 10W APU design.
Quote from: videocardzThe source also claims Ryzen Z3 is optimized around 15W, [..] RDNA4m is still RDNA3.5, just +
Maybe all the handheld makers could ask / finance AMD to make a native Ryzen Z4 10W APU.
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