Rare Steam Deck Prototype with 6-Year-Old AMD Picasso APU Sells for $2,000 on eBay

Consoles and accessories often become hot commodities, especially when they are still in the engineering phase. Recently, a keen-eyed user on Reddit’s r/SteamDeck found a Steam Deck prototype listed on eBay, a piece of history for the gaming enthusiast.

This early version of the Steam Deck fetched a hefty price, although lower than anticipated. Initially offered for $3,000, it ultimately exchanged hands for $2,000. The prototype shares some visuals with images Valve previously released and is equipped with an AMD APU featuring Picasso silicon from 2019.

Referred to internally as “Engineering Sample 34,” this prototype diverges slightly from the final product. It sports unique blue accents, an enhanced curved design, circular trackpads, and what looks like a sensor on its right joystick—offering a glimpse into its developmental journey.

Even though the back bears a loud “Not for resale” sticker, it apparently didn’t deter the previous owner from making the sale. During its developmental phase, Valve crafted numerous samples like this one for rigorous internal testing. While it’s tough to pin down the exact age, the older APU hints at its creation sometime around 2019 or 2020, primarily to evaluate its mechanical features before finalizing the retail version.

The seller notes the absence of an operating system, specifically SteamOS, on this prototype. Images from the listing show a BIOS analyzed by the folks at Notebookcheck, revealing the prototype’s specs. It features an AMD Picasso chip—Ryzen 3000 series mobile processor—with up to four Zen+ cores and a GCN 5.0 (Vega 3/8/11) integrated GPU. These older specs underscore a marked difference in performance compared to the final retail Steam Deck.

Interestingly, this prototype includes 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, both of which are smaller than the configurations available in the latest models, except perhaps the 64GB eMMC version. Today’s Steam Decks, with their newer AMD Aerith and Sephiroth APUs, would easily outperform this early setup.

As we wait to see who the buyer is, there’s anticipation in the air. Will it land in the hands of a tech reviewer or hardware analyst who’ll dig deep into the hardware? Or will it merely become a silent part of a collector’s series? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Valve recently informed fans that any hopes for a next-gen Steam Deck will remain on hold until more advanced processors come to market, keeping the gaming community waiting in anticipation.