If you have a Steam Deck with an LCD screen and its battery is starting to fail, repairing it has become surprisingly expensive. The official replacement battery for the original model has gone up in price again at iFixit and now costs $179.99 for the battery alone, or $184.99 for the complete repair kit. To put this into perspective, the battery originally launched at $79.99. Just a few weeks ago, it returned after a period of limited stock at $129.99, and this new $50 increase means its price has now jumped by 125% compared to the original price. Steam Deck
Ugh,
Yay.
Hopefully it is a popular enough product that 3rd party manufacturers will step in… But who am I kidding… I’ll just keep it plugged in and use the steam machine as much as possible
Having read the article, 3rd party batteries are the same price as the original battery used to be. A shame the oled batteries aren’t compatible with the LCD units.
It appears the price went up because it’s popular
A popular device now old enough that the original batteries are starting to fail from age and use. It happens all the time, nothing about the Steam Deck is special for this, it happens with everything.