Valve has quietly updated the specs for its still unreleased official dock to the Steam Deck handheld gaming PC, as reported by Review Geek. The Steam Deck page with technical specifications originally said that the dock would have a USB-A 3.1 port, two USB-A 2.0 ports and an Ethernet port for networking, but the site now says that all three USB-A ports will use the much faster 3.1 standard, and it now specifies that the Ethernet port will actually be a Gigabit Ethernet port.
According to Wayback Machine, Valve’s Steam Deck page with technical specifications listed the original specifications per. February 12, and the accompanying diagram of the dock pointed to an “Ethernet” port for networking. But on February 22, the specifications were updated to show the three USB-A 3.1 ports. And before February 25 – the first day Valve started selling Steam Deck – the dock chart was updated to show the three USB-A 3.1 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet connector.
(The Wayback Machines February 25 archive is also the first time I see Valve use the headline “Docking Station” instead of “Official Dock.”)
The upgrades seem like good for the dock and I look forward to picking one up for myself. I imagine a future where I can use the dock to play Steam games on the TV in my living room. Unfortunately, I do not know exactly when I will be able to do so, as Valve has only given a vague release date in late spring 2022 for the dock, and the company has not shared how much it might cost. Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If you do not want to wait for Valve’s official dock, the company says you can use other USB-C hubs instead, as my colleague Sean Hollister did in his review. But I’ve been waiting long enough for the deck itself, what’s another couple of months to the dock?