Slowly but certainly, Valve continues its long trudge towards making SteamOS the very best gaming-focused operating system. SteamOS 3.6, specifically, is now available in the Steam Deck’s ‘Preview’ update channel, and everything suggests it’s an absolute hoot in regards to performance and stability.
The full list of improvements on offer is substantial indeed, but some of the highlights include an update of SteamOS to a more recent Arch Linux base, improved display uniformity, a more up-to-date GPU driver, and unlocking of the LCD Steam Deck’s BIOS overclocking capabilities. Valve promises improved performance and responsiveness as well, which is always good news.
SteamOS 3.6 now available in Preview with substantial stability and performance boons
According to Valve’s SteamOS 3.6 patch notes, there’s quite a lot for Deck users to be looking forward to. Here’s a (slightly) truncated summary of what’s coming to the Steam Deck with this version of the SteamOS:
- A more up-to-date Arch Linux base, with Linux kernel now at version 6.5
- Updated GPU driver to Mesa 24.1, leading to performance and rendering correctness improvements
- Updated KDE Plasma to 5.27.10 in Desktop mode
- Added Steam Deck LCD BIOS overclock controls
- SD cards can now be used as the default boot devices
- Improved Apple AirPod pairing experience
- Improved session recovery speed after GPU crashes
- SanDisk microSD card misdetection workaround
- Improved speed of subsequent OS updates
- Enabled support for Bluetooth A2DP and BAP profiles
- Resolved the issue with an accrual of temporary files while using Flatpaks
- Improved Bluetooth connection speed with some devices
- Improved performance and stability in memory pressure use cases
- Resolved the problem with the performance UI automatically turning itself on
- Improved display uniformity (Mura compensation problems), color balance, and yellow tinting issues under some conditions
- Improved Steam UI responsiveness
For a full list of fixes and boons, be sure to check out Valve’s full patch notes, but what we outlined above should give you a sense of what’s waiting for you in the Deck’s Preview update channel. On that note, it’s worth remembering that the ‘Preview’ build of SteamOS isn’t fully stable, and you shouldn’t necessarily expect a flawless and entirely bug-free experience if you opt into it. For that, wait for SteamOS 3.6 to be pushed into the stable content pipeline instead, which may happen in a few weeks’ time if all goes well.
In the broader handheld gaming news, a new model of the ASUS ROG Ally is now in production. Designed for “enthusiast” gamers, the ROG Ally X is to the baseline ROG Ally what the OLED Steam Deck is to the LCD Steam Deck: expect a substantially improved battery and a revamped shell, but not a generational leap in performance. This makes sense, too, as the hardware necessary to deliver a truly substantial performance boost at low wattages simply isn’t there. Not yet, at least!
