Docking the Steam Deck will not increase its performance, according to Valve designer Greg Coomer.
In an interview with PC Gamer, Coomer responded to questions asked about whether Valve had considered implementing a higher power mode that could be utilized when the handheld was docked. He said, "Yes, but we didn't choose to make it a really high priority design target… we felt that it was actually better all things considered to not modify based on docked status or mobile status."
Coomer says that Valve's choice not to implement higher performance features for the docked consoles came as a matter of prioritization. Valve, he explains, has identified that the console's "highest use case" will be to run mobile and so "chose a threshold where the machine will run well, and with a good frame rate with AAA games in that scenario." said Coomer. "We didn't really feel like we should target also going after the dock scenario at higher resolutions. We wanted a simpler design target and to prioritize that." Coomer explains.
Although opting not to improve the console's performance when docked, the Steam Deck will be compatible with higher resolution monitors. However, players hoping to connect their console up to their high-resolution monitors may not find it as simple as plugging the console in and expecting flawless gameplay.
Recently, Valve designer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained that its '30 FPS target' for games running on the console will be "the floor of what we consider playable in our performance testing". Despite his comments indicating that many games would run on the console at a higher framerate than 30 fps, this is applicable to the console performing at its native 800p resolution and doesn't speak for connecting the console to a higher resolution screen. Scaling that resolution up on a monitor could mean that the console's performance suffers as a result of the capabilities of its four-core AMD APU Zen 2c processor and AMD APU 8 CU (compute unit) RDNA2 GPU.
Arguably Valve's biggest handheld competitor on the market right now is the Nintendo Switch. Whilst the two handhelds are notably dissimilar on a number of levels, there are comparable elements in terms of their hardware. The Nintendo Switch, unlike the Steam Deck, does use its dock to improve the console's performance. In doing so, this allows Switch players to play their console on a range of screens freely without the added worry of performance issues.
With this feature included on the Switch, fans looking to buy the Steam Deck may have thought that it would include a similar feature as standard. IGN recently published a comprehensive comparison between the Steam Deck and Nintendo's current flagship model, the Switch OLED which you can read to find out more about the hardware of both handhelds.
For more on the Steam Deck, you can also check out this article detailing how Valve is confident that its Steam Deck is future proof and what the company currently expects surrounding further generations.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.