I’d wager the same kind of people screaming “it should have been socketed” are the same people who would scream “why the fuck did they make this thing so thick?!”
The chips themselves are the most expensive parts usually, much more than a socket and additional daughterboard. And if they were all modular you can reuse those chips for other devices!
Also, even back in the chunky early 2000s IBM Thinkpad days I never really minded the size or weight, that’s just my own opinion though.
Sure, if you want your device to be half an inch thicker, and more expensive.
Steam deck is already a brick, would anyone notice?
I’d wager the same kind of people screaming “it should have been socketed” are the same people who would scream “why the fuck did they make this thing so thick?!”
The chips themselves are the most expensive parts usually, much more than a socket and additional daughterboard. And if they were all modular you can reuse those chips for other devices!
Also, even back in the chunky early 2000s IBM Thinkpad days I never really minded the size or weight, that’s just my own opinion though.
last i checked a thinkpad wasnt a handheld device, either.