Source is KeplerL2, who is generally considered a reliable source for insider hardware info, particularly on AMD GPU hardware and AMD SoC for consoles.
Previously I would have personally estimated Steam Deck 2 to release mid 2026-early 2027, but the recent info about an upcoming Steam Machine made me think that maybe I should push back that estimate.
Of course even if we assume this is reliable insider info, a lot can change in couple years, so things can definitely change.
Yeah I was just using proton as an example of a translation layer that made the steamdeck possible. RISC-V would be great. The Steamdeck adopting it would also push far more development and refinement in the Linux kernal for that architecture too.