It won't have any impact at all. We all know handheld PC's will ge more powerful and more expensive. Just like the release of RTX40 series won't really impact PS or Xbox. Different target demographics and most people willing to pay so much for a handheld pc will buy a Switch 2 anyway.

If I wanted to do PC gaming, I'd buy an actual PC. If I wanted portable PC gaming, I'd buy a laptop.

I do like that the Steam Deck does at least make PC gaming possible with minimal to no involvement of Microsoft, however.

You are in luck, Apple is getting better support for games and Apple Silicon is pretty damn rad. Like with 200 watts it can easily outrun a rtx3070ti and I9 processor. And with a very small form factor. SoMS might not be necessary for gaming and a multipurpose pc for long.

I was wondering how Apple moving away from Intel architecture would impact Mac gaming. It seemed to me like Apple Silicon would put off a lot of developers used to working with Intel processors. It would be kind of cool to be able to play Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch on a bigger screen than a phone, and I've been looking to replace my elderly MacBook.

Given how much more efficient apple Silicon is I would say it's the future. We can only run so much more watts trough new CPU's. If we want to get much more performance out if our systems we need much more efficient systems, which don't require a massive case to keep it cool. Would be awesome if apple ever made a controller and a switch like dock to connect your iPad to your TV.

You can play your steam deck on the TV, but that costs extra money since you need a USB C to HDMI adapter which costs around 20$ more, so the argument that its just 50$ more than the Switch Oled to be used on the TV & Go is invalid. You'll also need a separate gamepad to play it on the TV/Monitor which would potentially cost more money if the consumer doesn't have another gamepad. 

While playing this on the TV is a nice option to have, think about it, most people who will be interested in a Steam deck will likely already own a PC, PS, or Xbox, places where they could easily play all their multiplat games on a TV or monitor and platforms where they likely already spent a lot on games for it, making Steam Deck's ability to play games on the TV practically useless. So for most consumers the Steam Deck's ability to connect to the TV won't add much of any value when they most likely already have a PS/Xbox/PC to play games on the TV. So essentially they'd have to pay 400$+ for a device they'd almost exclusively use as a portable device which isn't very appealing to many people.

The Switch of course doesn't apply to this because its cheaper than the Steam Deck where you could play games on the TV for more than 100$ cheaper if you choose the regular Switch model, and if a consumer wanted to play games exclusively portabley they could get the Switch Lite which is 200$ cheaper. Also, the Switch is the only convenient place to play Nintendo games on the TV, something that PS/Xbox/PC cant replace. Making the Switch far more appealing.

PC has exclusives but people who are interested in PC exclusives already own probably a much more powerful PC setup, which still makes Steam Deck's ability to play on the TV not very valuable. People interested in the steam deck will likely only be interested in the portability aspect since they likely have other options to play PC games on the TV, so in most people's minds they would essentially be paying 400+$ for a device they'll use exclusively as a portable, which is a bit too much for the broad consumer to shell out.

Yes the Steam Deck's ability to emulate Nintendo games is cool and all but my argument is that it's not a feature thats gonna appeal much to the mass market to put a dent in the Switch's marketshare. If emulating Nintendo games was that easy for the average consumer then we would begin to see the Steam Deck take over Switch's market share since people would prefer to buy a Steam Deck with more powerful hardware, all the multiplats, and Nintendo games, but we haven't seen that cause most gaming consumers don't know or care to know how to emulate games, most gamers aren't hardcore like that.

I'm not attacking the Steam Deck as a device, I think it's an awesome product. However, it's illogical to say it will put any sort of dent to the Switch's market share based on the reasons I just stated.

Only Nintendo itself can have an impact...talk it's cheap! At least the strategy so far is good , there's no  hint of a rush to replace NS once it wi(i)ll have a significant drop in sales, smooth transition this time (but not saving the new gen pokemon for the successor and its launch, not letting sword and shield to come close to the best selling titltes of series heh) However, Zero129 posts agonized me a bit.

Nevertheless, why PC handheld will have an impact, when the so called direct competition (console gaming) hasn't any? Or original PC gaming to PS4/XBOX 1, they ended up selling 167.5m together, that's only 6m down from previous gen (I was afraid of a 20m deficit in the beginning). There is the loyalty factor... People pay 599-699 with ease (ps5) to play ( unlike one time with ps3, though ps5 is a lot more attracting product).... I should have paid more attention to the last paragraph of the post... Anyway, the gist of what i'm saying remains.

I'm going to guess it won't impact it very much. I still believe the main appeal of Nintendo hardware is their exclusive games. Franchises like Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, Kirby, Pokemon and the list goes on. Plus the Switch's successor will probably be a lot closer to the Steam Deck in terms of performance.

No, you don't need a separate gamepad or a USB-C dock or a $20 adapter.

All you need is a $13 USB-C to HDMI cable:

Switch OLED 64 GB with Dock: $349
Steam Deck 64 GB with cable: $399 + $13 = $412

price gap: $63 / 18%

Of course you can add an additional controller, but thats optional... the Steam Deck controls work fine while connected to a TV.

For Switch I prefer the Pro Controller at home (the Joy-Cons aren't very ergonomic), for PC devices an Xbox controller.

Original Xbox controllers are usually around $15 cheaper than original Switch Pro controllers, which brings the price gap under $50.

And depending on your TV (or TV accessory like Apple TV, Fire Stick or Chromecast) you can stream the game wireless to the TV, if the TV or accessory supports the Steam Link app.