I simply want my Tesla Mannequin 3 had Steam

Amelia

Updated on:

Thanks for bringing the cards back, Tesla! Version 11 of the OS is finally good.

Steam, the PC gaming platform, is making its approach round city as a part of Tesla’s newest vacation replace. It fulfills a promise Tesla CEO Elon Musk made virtually two years in the past: that you just’ll have the ability to play The Witcher 3 utilizing the automotive’s built-in {hardware}. However sadly for me, I received’t get to play it, and it doesn’t appear to be there will probably be any simple path towards upgrading.

I’ve a 2018 Tesla Mannequin 3, and I feel I ought to point out it’s acquired loads of upgrades over time, together with overhauled consumer interface, Autopilot visualizations, streaming apps, and arcade video games. However in my automotive, all of Tesla’s fancy new software program is operating on the Intel Atom — a processor designed for reasonable netbooks from the earlier decade (Keep in mind the Eee PC?). So it’s no shock that my Mannequin 3 can’t play Steam video games, however I nonetheless want it might.

Help for PC video games from Steam, nonetheless, is reserved for the newest Mannequin S and X autos, ones that value about twice, if no more, than what I paid for my 3 (even with the newest reductions).

And we’re speaking about solely the newest of the 2022 fashions, as redesigned S and X autos from 2021 and early 2022 embody the “PS5-level” graphics chips based mostly on AMD RDNA2 however don’t have the wanted 16GB of RAM.

Homeowners of these fashions will not be completely screwed, although, as Musk confirmed on Twitter that there will be a retrofit offered.

The 2022 vacation replace from Tesla, like we see yearly, does add loads of cool new options that my Mannequin 3 can reap the benefits of. The automaker uploaded a brand new video this week highlighting Easter eggs like always-on rainbow highway graphics for Autopilot, the flexibility to remotely monitor your pet whereas in canine mode, and, lastly, play Apple Music instantly within the automotive (thanks, Tim Cook dinner?).

After all, the vacation replace comes with a brand-new holiday light show that may time up with different Teslas. Additionally, I respect that Tesla introduced again the swipe-able playing cards that conveniently present journey information and tire stress — that was eliminated in final 12 months’s introduction of software program model 11, amongst different head-scratchers like eradicating seat heater buttons from the underside bar.

The video additionally consists of some technical particulars on what it takes for video games like Cyberpunk 2077 to run at excessive graphics settings in a Tesla. It makes use of a Linux digital machine, Steam Deck verified video games, and naturally, GPU acceleration from {hardware} I might solely dream of getting in my automotive.

Thanks for bringing the cards back, Tesla! Version 11 of the OS is finally good.

Thanks for bringing the playing cards again, Tesla! Model 11 of the OS is lastly good.
Picture: Umar Shakir / The Verge

Curiously, Mannequin 3 and Y autos that began transport this time final 12 months got here with some upgrades, too, together with new infotainment computer systems operating on AMD Ryzen chips. The brand new {hardware}, identified in Tesla group circles as MCU3, shows improved performance all through the OS — however sadly, they don’t include discrete graphics wanted to run many resource-heavy video games provided on Steam.

There’s additionally no official phrase whether or not older automobiles with the Intel-based MCU2 (like mine) can get a retrofit, which might be superior since apps I can run, like Netflix and the net browser, are feeling more and more sluggish these days.

Supporting the extra highly effective AMD chipset may even require the new Lithium-based 12V battery that comes within the newer Mannequin 3 and Y, based on the founding father of Tesla Homeowners On-line, a Tesla discussion board. And to make issues worse, the flexibility to make in-car Zoom calls may not even come to the Intel Atom-based Teslas.

Behold! Apple Music is finally in a Tesla!

Behold! Apple Music is lastly in a Tesla!
Picture: Umar Shakir / The Verge

So it’s time for me to simply settle for it: I’ll solely have the ability to play video games like Stardew Valley, Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), and Cuphead in my Mannequin 3 throughout highway journeys (not whereas driving, simply to be clear), until I pack an precise Steam Deck or gaming laptop computer. One different possibility might come through this unofficial Xbox cloud gaming workaround, but it surely isn’t good.

Whereas the replace didn’t deliver me Steam, it did not less than get me Apple Music — so I now not have to pay for Spotify to take heed to music instantly on my gradual Intel Atom-powered display screen.


Leave a Comment