New Nintendo Switch Leaks and Rumors

Nintendo Switch Redesign Rumors



Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at rumors circulating about the Nintendo Switch redesign.



It should go without saying but please take these rumours with a grain of salt, though we will be analysing if they are grounded in reality.



Switch Pro & Switch Lite/Mini



The talk of the town is that we’re going to be getting not one, but two iterations of the Switch on the Horizon, at least that’s the claim being put fourth by Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games. This is based off two different reports, the first being from report in the Wall Street Journal claiming a pro version later this year. While industry analyst Michael Pachter is claiming a lite version of the Switch will also arrive to replace the aging 3DS line of console. A move like this would also bring down the price of the current Switch model too. Since Nintendo have released multiple versions of their consoles in the past, it makes sense they would want to do the same with the Switch.









Better Screen

Obviously the Switch’s biggest draws is the fact that it can be played on a TV or on the go, though be it with a 720p display in an era where most smartphones support a 1080p screen at minimum. Regardless, it’s been reported by the Wall Street Journal that Nintendo are looking to greatly improve the Switch’s display, sporting at least a 1080p handheld display allowing for far more crisper image quality for the Pro version of the redesign. Not to mention the larger resolution would also improve accuracy of the touchscreen. It’s unlikely a mini version would support a larger resolution, since the unit as a whole would be smaller in size than the current Switch on the market.







No Dock



The biggest change on the horizon for the Switch is the removal of the dock, at least for this lite version that Michael Pachter is reporting, which he claims has been done to keep the costs down. Obvious many people would be on the fence about this, since it neuters the Switch’s ability to, well, switch, which is a major part of its appeal. With no dock, you won’t be able to play Switch games on your TV, which means no rendering “Breath of the Wild” on a giant plasma. Given that rumour is only linked to the lite version we can possibly assume that a Pro version will still have one. Although, it’s worth noting that since mid-2018, dockless Switches have been available in Japan.









Specs




This one likely falls under the Pro side of the rumour mill. As games journalist Marcus Sellers suggests that the specs of the system will actually get a boost over the original. The RAM is being doubled from its current 4GB to 8GB, while the console internal storage will receive an increase to 128GB – up from a meagre 32GB. There’s also speculation that the Nvidia Tegra will be pushed out in favor of a more powerful processing chip. While Marcus’s claims have been widely disputed, especially considering he deleted his original tweets, modders have found lines of code in the Switch Update files of a bump to 8GB RAM, and faster PCB. Which would certainly backup those claims.









4K (Likely not true)


This one again comes from Marcus Sellers so again we can tie this to the pro version, However as far as rumoured features go its the least likely to be legit. The claim is that the Switch will support dynamic scaling for up to 4K displays. Though considering most Switch games struggle to hit 1080p on the current hardware when docked, and the fact that there’s no other supporting claims to go with this information. We could probably write this one off as “Not going to happen” at least as far as native gaming support goes. Improved Upscaling support is more likely to be a thing since some 4K displays have issues rendering a Switch display clearly. Yeah it’s wishful thinking, but it’s by far the most logical update that’s needed.