AirTags are an excellent way to track high-value items, pets, and children, so why not your Steam Deck? There are a few issues. First, an AirTag works best if you conceal it so a thief can’t easily discard it while making off with your belongings. Second, there’s no ideal secure place to keep an AirTag inside the Steam Deck case, speaking from personal experience, which means you’ll probably have to resort to some DIY case mods. Redditor u/mikerfx found a viable way to hide an AirTag inside the Steam Deck itself. As in, cracking open the case and sticking it right on top of a daughterboard.
According to u/mikerfx, it would seem the hidden AirTag doesn’t interfere with the function of the Deck, and the AirTag itself works flawlessly. One Redditor (account now deleted) recommends wrapping the AirTag in electrical tape to avoid a short-circuit should the AirTag’s metal backing touch an exposed contact. We can’t speak to how well this hack performs in the wild, or if it’s safe as a long-term solution, but it may be worth a shot if you’re particularly concerned your Steam Deck will pull a Houdini. There is a less risky, less invasive solution if you have the Steam Deck OLED 1TB Edition, which includes a special double case. You can hide the AirTag in the gap between the case and its removable inner-liner case, a spot thieves won’t easily discover.
