Install an AirTag inside a Steam Deck so you don't lose it

Install an AirTag inside a Steam Deck so you don't lose it

Now that it seems that the stock of PlayStation 5 is finally beginning to stabilize, a new product has burst onto the market and has achieved all the attention. The Steam Deck has been defined by many users as a perfect portable console, but Valve has already announced that we will not be able to buy one until at least October of this year. That means that those who own one right now, have a treasure. And, like a good treasure, you have to put it in a safe place. That’s what a Reddit user has done, who hasn’t taken long to find a slit to hide an Apple AirTag in the console and thus make sure that he won’t lose it.

Don’t lose the Steam Deck: so you can put an Apple AirTag on it

Steam Deck

Finally someone is using Apple AirTags for no evil purpose. After months in which we only get news of criminal gangs that use these small tracking devices to locate high-end vehicles – and later steal them – or harass people, a Reddit user has found a use for these small devices of the company in Cupertino to ensure your Steam Deck doesn’t end up lying around or found if it’s stolen. We imagine that Tim Cook will have breathed a sigh of relief upon reading positive news, because his company has been adding additional security systems to Find My for months to prevent espionage with AirTags.

If you have a Steam Deck and you want to put one of these little RF locators on it too, just follow the steps redditor Mikerfx did. The forum user armed himself with a screwdriver and found a small hole inside the console with the exact space to insert the Apple AirTag just below the right grip. The location is simply perfect, since it does not interrupt the path of the rear macro buttons (the R4 and R5). You also didn’t have to sand the surface or bend any kind of plastic. In part, all of this has been possible because Valve makes it quite easy for its users to repair their devices. With removable parts that won’t break in the process, Mikerfx was able to disassemble quite a few components of his console until he found the perfect spot to mount the locator.

A fellow Redditor asked me about placing an Apple AirTag inside my SD. Its possible and this video shows where it can be placed. However I won’t be needing an AirTag in my SD, so this was an experiment. Also I placed the AirTag upward to avoid any interference and be aware of the daughter board chips. from SteamDeck

Now, in case its owner loses the console, you can locate it thanks to the Find My services and all the iOS devices that come near your Steam Deck. Apple AirTags are powered by the Apple U1 chip, which uses UWB technology to communicate encrypted with iOS devices so the AirTag owner can locate their belongings. Communication occurs silently , so a thief’s own iPhone could be communicating its location to the owner of the stolen object. However, considering the very connectivity of Valve’s console, it would not be surprising if similar functionality was added natively in software on the Deck itself.