Despite the fact that a Nintendo Switch Pro by no means got here to be, rumors of a 4K Switch refuse to go away. The Japanese firm just lately introduced the Nintendo Switch OLED, a satisfying improve over the unique console that comes with a much bigger display screen, a redesigned kickstand, more inner storage, higher audio system, and a placing OLED show.
However on the subject of energy, the Nintendo Switch OLED is strictly the identical as the unique Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017. The console shows at 1080p when docked, and 720p in handheld mode.
That news got here as a disappointment to many, as the discharge of the PS5 and Xbox Series X has solely served to focus on the efficiency hole between Nintendo's console which is approaching its fifth anniversary.
4K TVs are actually the usual in lots of properties, too, which makes the Switch's 1080p output look noticeable comfortable on most 4K shows.
Demand for a Nintendo Switch Pro is definitely there, then, however will we ever see a 4K Switch? This is the whole lot it's essential to learn about Nintendo's elusive 4K console.
Nintendo Switch Pro: lower to the chase
- What's it? A suped-up Nintendo Switch able to outputting at 4K
- How a lot will it value? TBA
- When will it launch? TBA
Nintendo Switch Pro launch date
The Nintendo Switch Pro was rumored to launch as an alternative of the Nintendo Switch OLED, which arrives on October 8, 2021. Now, although, the existence of a Pro console has come into query, because the Nintendo Switch OLED consists of lots of the leaked specs that had been speculated to be included within the Switch Pro.
Pre-orders for Switch OLED are actually stay
Nintendo Switch OLED pre-orders are actually stay. Releasing on October 8, 2021, the Switch OLED brings some much-needed upgrades to the favored hybrid console. You get a 7-inch OLED display screen, a greater kickstand, and audio system, plus 64GB of inner storage.
Bloomberg predicted a Nintendo Switch Pro console would have a launch date round September or October this yr, which stunned many on the time. As an alternative, that launch date belongs to the OLED mannequin, nevertheless, a launch date of March 2022 was hinted at, which might nonetheless come to be if Nintendo did announce a Nintendo Switch Pro.
Nintendo Switch Pro value
Clearly redesigns value cash, and redesigns with improved {hardware} doubly so. The Nintendo Switch Pro, with its up to date and more highly effective {hardware}, will nearly positively value greater than the present Switch's £279 / $299 / AU$449 pricing.
The Nintendo Switch OLED is already a more premium mannequin and can launch at $349.99 / £309 / AU$539. Fortunately this is not an enormous step up from the unique Switch's asking value and is lower than the $399 price ticket that was predicted by some. For comparability, the PS4 Pro was $100 greater than the PS4.
As a family-focused firm, we would be stunned if the Nintendo Switch Pro got here in on the identical value as PS5 and Xbox Series X, $499 / £449 / $AU749, however it is going to be costlier than the Nintendo Switch OLED nonetheless.
- Switch Pro: builders inform us what they need from the rumored Switch improve
Nintendo Switch Pro news and rumors
Nintendo denies the existence of Nintendo Switch Pro after new experiences
Bloomberg has as soon as once more reported {that a} Nintendo Switch Pro is certainly actual, and has claimed that 11 completely different sport studios had entry to an official growth package that featured 4K help.
The console was apparently shelved on account of provide points attributable to the continued world semiconductor scarcity, although it might nonetheless be launched.
Nintendo, nevertheless, has moved swiftly to disclaim these claims. In a post on Twitter, Nintendo stated that Bloomberg's report "falsely claims that Nintendo is supply tools to drive game developers for a Nintendo Switch with 4K support", the corporate went on to say "we have no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch OLED Model".
A Nintendo Switch Pro might nonetheless be within the works
In response to Tokyo-based analyst Serkan Toto, a Nintendo Switch Pro might nonetheless occur. Toto has prompt that the Switch OLED is perhaps a "dummy upgrade" earlier than an actual improve arrives subsequent yr.
Talking to Bloomberg, Toto stated: "This new Switch looks more like an interim model than a real upgrade to me," Toto instructed Bloomberg. "This might just be a dummy upgrade until Breath Of The Wild 2 is ready and the component shortage is over next year."
The Nintendo Switch OLED has been introduced
The Nintendo Switch OLED (which was speculated to be the Nintendo Switch Pro) has been introduced by Nintendo. In an announcement trailer posted to the official Nintendo YouTube channel, we received our first glimpse of the {hardware} enhancements which might be coming.
Clearly, the show will likely be enhanced and benefit from OLED expertise to ship an incredible image with vivid colours and spectacular distinction. The Switch OLED's display screen may also be barely larger (7-inches versus 6.2-inches) and the inner sound system is getting a lift. If you happen to like downloading video games you can benefit from 64GB of inner storage, and people who like gaming on-line can use the brand new Nintendo Switch dock's Ethernet port which is inbuilt.
The Nintendo Switch OLED doesn't help 4K gaming whereas docked as was anticipated of the rumored Nintendo Switch Pro, and outputs at 720p in handheld mode.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mHq6Y7JSmg[/embed]
The place is the Nintendo Switch Pro?
Now that June 3 has been and gone, the approaching announcement of a Nintendo Switch Pro appears much less probably. Nintendo can be internet hosting its personal occasion throughout E3 on June 15, so it might make the announcement then. Both method, we'll be conserving a watch out for any news ought to it seem.
Nintendo Switch preorders may go stay on June 4
Preorders for the Nintendo Switch Pro might go stay on June 4 in accordance with a tweet from outstanding Pokémon leaker CentroLeaks. A date of June 30 has additionally been prompt, however CentroLeaks believes that this was probably a placeholder.
This date would not sound too farfetched, contemplating the Nintendo Switch Pro could possibly be revealed on June 3.
Nintendo Switch Pro introduced might happen on June 3
We might get a Nintendo Switch Pro announcement as quickly as June 3, in accordance with one of many hosts of the Xbox Period podcast.
Nick Baker believes that Nintendo will reveal the brand new console on Thursday June 3; nevertheless, he famous that the date could possibly be pushed again, because it has been earlier than.
The reveal would line up with Bloomberg's report, which tipped the console to be introduced earlier than E3 takes place.
Nintendo Switch Pro to be revealed earlier than E3
We'd see Nintendo's new Nintendo Switch earlier than E3, in accordance with sources at Bloomberg. The console could possibly be introduced forward of June 12 in order that publishers can exhibit upcoming video games, and a launch date is tipped for as early as October.
Nintendo Switch Pro confirmed?
OLED agency Common Show Corp might need inadvertently revealed {that a} Nintendo Switch Pro is certainly on the best way, as a current transcription of an buyers name by the corporate made point out of a “new Switch Pro” and its selection of OLED as its display screen.
Common Show Corp CEO Steven V. Abramson acknowledged in the course of the buyers name: “...Nintendo has selected an OLED screen for the new Switch Pro due to OLED benefits of higher contrast and faster response times.”
This our greatest proof but {that a} new Nintendo Switch is certainly on the best way, nevertheless it's nonetheless unclear what type it can take.
Nintendo Switch Pro doubtful
Nintendo has ramped up Nintendo Switch manufacturing because it goals to shift 30m items this fiscal yr, in accordance with Nikkei Asia. That is an uncommon transfer when an organization is about to launch new {hardware}, significantly if its set to exchange an present mannequin, and it is clear that Nintendo thinks that the Nintendo Switch has loads of life in it but.
Dataminer strikes gold?
A knowledge miner often called SciresM has claimed (through Wccftech) that they've discovered reference to a brand new Nintendo Switch mannequin inside the Switch’s newest firmware update, codenamed 'Aula'.
Reportedly, this {hardware} makes use of the identical chip because the Nintendo Switch Lite and 2019 Switch mannequin, the Mariko (Tegra X1+) SoC. Nevertheless, SciresM additionally claims that there are references to help for a Realtek chip which is a “4K UHD multimedia SoC”.
Relatively than being inside the Switch pill, they suppose that it “might be inside a new dock and not inside the tablet, though, there’s no way to tell from the firmware code yet.” In addition they say that the pill itself could have an improved OLED display screen, although what decision it’ll provide continues to be unclear. The claims of some form of 4K help do line up with the various different experiences from the previous yr which declare that an upgraded Switch able to 4K is on the horizon.
After all, there’s been no affirmation from Nintendo itself {that a} new Switch is on the playing cards and, in actual fact, Doug Bowser has made feedback very just lately that recommend there won't be for a while. With that in thoughts, we're nonetheless taking this with a pinch of salt.
Analysts suppose it’s nonetheless on the playing cards
Regardless of Doug Bowser’s current feedback, business analysts nonetheless appear to suppose that there could possibly be an upgraded Nintendo Switch on the playing cards for 2021. Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Dr Serkan Toto of Kantan Video games and Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Evaluation stated they suppose the console is on the horizon. Toto was fairly assured in his prediction, whereas Harding-Rolls was more reserved, saying he thought such a launch in 2021 would make “commercial sense”.
Doug Bowser feedback recommend no Nintendo Switch Pro anytime quickly
We must always mood our expectations that there’s going to be a Nintendo Switch Pro or new Nintendo Switch any time quickly if current feedback from Nintendo of America’s Doug Bowser are something to go by.
Talking to Polygon, Bowser stated that whereas enhancements to the Switch expertise are all the time being considered, the corporate isn’t precisely feeling the stress thanks the continued success of the unique Switch and its Lite counterpart.
“We’re always looking at technology,” says Bowser. “And as we know, technology is constantly evolving and changing. And we’re always looking at what is coming to determine: how can it enhance and improve the gameplay experience? And whether that’s on a current platform, or whether that’s on a future platform, we’re always looking at that.”
Including that “the momentum on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite in the fourth year is strong. And we believe we’re changing the trajectory of another typical console life cycle.”
Bowser calls 2020 the “midpoint of this life cycle”, which means that it might nonetheless be one other three years or so earlier than we see any new Nintendo Switch. That, in fact, doesn’t imply there received’t be any enhancements in any respect given the battery improve given to new consoles in 2019, nevertheless it does make these rumors of a brand new console in 2021 appear much less probably than they did.
Nintendo Switch outsells PS5 and Xbox Series X
Maybe Nintendo was proper to not fear concerning the launch of the next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft. It has been revealed that within the launch month of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, Nintendo’s Switch household of consoles has stayed on high within the US when it comes to console gross sales.
In response to analytics movie NPD Group the Switch and Switch Lite garnered a complete 1.35 million gross sales within the US alone all through November. Actually, the report additionally says that Nintendo’s {hardware} is promoting much more in 2020 than the earlier yr – round half 1,000,000 items more, to a complete of 6.92 million – regardless of now being three years into its lifecycle. We don’t even have agency numbers for gross sales of the PS5 and Xbox Series X but, however the former console is estimated to have offered round 2 million items worldwide throughout its two November launch dates, with inventory drying up quickly after.
The story isn’t the identical the world over – it’s value noting that the PS5 did outsell the Switch within the UK. Regardless, it exhibits that the Switch’s momentum doesn't appear to be slowing even within the face of recent and more highly effective 4K consoles. What this implies for a potential more highly effective Nintendo Switch Pro stays to be seen. Nintendo clearly would not actually want a brand new console proper now with these gross sales however launched on the proper time it might propel the Switch to even larger heights.
Standalone Pleasure-Con patent
A newly found patent (through VGC) means that some standalone Pleasure-Con controllers have been thought of by Nintendo.
A newly-discovered Nintendo patent means that the corporate could also be planning to launch a brand new type of Pleasure-Con model controller.
Initially filed in Could 2018 and registered in April 2020, the patent exhibits a controller that’s extremely related in {shape} and structure to the present Pleasure-Con discovered on the unique Switch. Nevertheless, it's barely up to date and reasonably than being designed to slip onto a display screen like the present Pleasure-Con, this controller seems to be a standalone system, with no rails for sliding in sight.
Whereas there isn’t a lot want for standalone Pleasure-Con on the unique Switch, they could possibly be helpful with the newer Nintendo Switch Lite, which has its controls completely hooked up, as it will enable for simpler multiplayer gaming. Given the current rumors across the Nintendo Switch Pro, although, it’s additionally value contemplating that the standalone Pleasure-Con has been designed with this new console in thoughts.
Contemplating it is a patent, nevertheless, there’s no assure that Nintendo continues to be pursuing the thought of standalone Pleasure-Con controllers or that we'll ever see something like this come to market.
Rumors of a mini-LED show
One thing barely completely different from the 4K rumors we have been used to on the subject of the Nintendo Switch Pro; we may even see a mini-LED show substitute the present LCD display screen. In response to a report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, the still-rumored Switch Pro mannequin might sport mini-LED screens equipped by Innolux, a well known producer within the subject.
The present Switch and Switch Lite consoles use an HD (720p) LCD display screen. If a brand new Switch console did have 4K functionality, we think about it might be in docked mode, with handheld mode providing a slightly-boosted Full HD (1080p) show. Upgrading to a mini-LED show would make all of these pixels look higher than earlier than as mini-LED shows use 1000's of tiny individually-controlled backlights within the glass substrate of the panel to supply a wider distinction ratio, higher brightness management, deeper blacks and richer colours. It might even imply thinner and lighter product designs. There are rumors that 2021 will carry an iPad Pro 12.9 which makes use of mini-LED expertise, too, so it could possibly be a expertise that is on the rise.
Devs are reportedly being instructed to get 4K-ready
A current report by Bloomberg has alleged that Nintendo is asking builders to make their Nintendo Switch video games 4K-ready, including weight to earlier rumors that Nintendo has a decision improve up its sleeve with a 4K-ready upgraded Switch console.
Bloomberg's report most notably corresponds with a current experiences from the Economic Daily News, which cited numerous {hardware} producers answerable for the Switch’s flash storage and Pleasure-Con controllers, and claimed {that a} more highly effective Nintendo Switch console with upgraded interactivity and improved show high quality might go into manufacturing in 2021.
Experiences of a brand new console in 2021
If a experiences from the Economic Daily News is to be believed, a more highly effective Nintendo Switch console with upgraded interactivity and improved show high quality could possibly be coming subsequent yr.
The report cites numerous {hardware} producers answerable for the Switch’s Flash storage and Pleasure-Con controllers, and says that the console might go into manufacturing by the top of 2021.
This has been backed up by a second report from Bloomberg, which cites sources accustomed to the upgraded Switch console. The report notes that the brand new Nintendo Switch's specs have not been finalized but, although it notes that Nintendo has apparently been investigating 4K visuals and more energy for the brand new unit.
Bloomberg's report additionally means that Nintendo is planning a bunch of recent video games alongside the console, which the report says is why this yr has been comparatively fallow for Switch releases. A brand new, more highly effective console might definitely be good approach to exhibit Breath of the Wild 2.
Using Nintendo Switch options
Within the eightieth Annual Normal Assembly of Shareholders (through VideoGamer), Nintendo acknowledged that future consoles will harness the the Switch's distinctive components and expertise.
"Our current generation game system, Nintendo Switch, has entered its fourth year since launch, but its momentum is increasing," Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated. "We believe there are two factors behind this. First is the existence of two hardware configurations with different characteristics, in Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite. The second factor is that Nintendo’s development resources are concentrated on developing content for a single platform, Nintendo Switch. We want to extend the life cycle of Nintendo Switch while maximising such advantages.
"From the attitude of enjoying with the picture displayed on a TV, we imagine that as a result of shoppers can play Nintendo Switch on a TV or the sport console display screen itself, it has vastly elevated the alternatives for gameplay in numerous scenes of their lives, in comparison with earlier consoles," Furukawa continued. "By Nintendo Switch, we’ve made many discoveries about the place a devoted online game platform can match right into a shopper’s day by day life. We see scenes on social media of kids and their households sitting round a sport console to play, which supplies us a renewed sense of the worth of our devoted online game platform. We are going to utilise these experiences in rigorously contemplating the shape our future sport consoles will take."
Codenames
Dataminers have been coursing through Nintendo's firmware version 10.0.0 for information on new Switch consoles and have apparently identified codenames for the upcoming devices.
According to JershJopstin on Resetera, there are 5 recognized codenames for Nintendo Switch fashions: Icosa, Copper, Hoag, Iowa, and Calcio. This is a breakdown of what we learn about their codenames thus far (thanks TweakTown):
- Icosa - Switch released at launch - nx-abca2 - 20nm Tegra X1 -
- Iowa - revised Switch - nx-abca2 - 16nm Tegra X1 and 'Mariko' chip
- Hoag - the Switch Lite - nx-abcc - 16nm Tegra X1 and Mariko chip
- Copper - unconfirmed- nx-abcb
- Calcio - unconfirmed - nx-abcb - 16nm Tegra X1 and Mariko chip
While Iow, Hoag and Icosa have already released, Copper and Calcio have not been confirmed to be in development.
According to JershJopstin, Copper appears to be a non-mobile device due to its lack of battery and charging services, and the HDMI services it appears to have which would typically be handled by a Switch docking station.
Meanwhile, according to another rumor, Calcio will apparently be a docked-only, more traditional console.
Nah, and official devs don’t know anything yet (at least indies). Nintendo has these archives that contain a bunch of settings for specific hardware types + there’s some configuration in various sysmodules. Nintendo often adds some or all of that before the hardware releases heh.March 2, 2020
In addition, JershJopstin has suggested that this Calcio console could be digital-only due to its apparent lack of support for game cards and new naming form factor.
However these rumors should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism until we get confirmation from Nintendo.
Possible dual-screen
A dataminer has dug into the new Nintendo Switch version 10.00 firmware and found hints that it adds preliminary support for a new Switch model, - nx-abcd -, one with a secondary display, possibly a dual-screen like the Nintendo DS. This is the same dataminer who previously uncovered that Nintendo was working on a revised model - which turned out to be longer battery-life Switch - from firmware version 9.0.0. However, this should still be treated with skepticism.
This is a different form factor from the Switch codenames we've seen before, with Resetera user suggesting we may see a different type of Switch device altogether - not handheld or docked.
Firmware 10.0.0 adds preliminary support for a new hardware model: "nx-abcd".3 of the 5 new DRAM profiles are for this new {hardware} kind and there is proof of a secondary show of types being added solely on this mannequin. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)April 14, 2020
Nintendo isn't worried about the next console generation
2020 isn't the year of a new Nintendo Switch console, but it was the year that Sony and Microsoft launch the next generation of consoles: the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Nintendo, however, isn't worried about catching up. Talking to investors during a Japanese Q&A (via VGC), Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa said that while the gaming landscape will change, the company doesn't think the release of these next-gen consoles will have a big impact on its own fortunes.
“We do not believe that the business trends of other companies will have a significant impact on our business,” Furukawa told investors, explaining that the reason Nintendo is so confident that the PS5 and Xbox Series X won't pose huge competition is because the Nintendo Switch targets a different audience.
While this doesn't tell us a whole lot about any specific new console plans Nintendo has, it does suggest that the company isn't feeling any great hurry or pressure from its supposed competitors to release, or even announce, a Nintendo Switch Pro in the immediate future.
No 4K or performance upgrades? - Debunked
On Korean site Clién's community forums (via Wccftech), a poster named Cathedral Knight claimed that the Switch Pro will launch in Q4 2020 but will not boast 4K and upgraded performance as expected.
Instead of moving to an upgraded version of Tegrax1 +GPU, the post claims Nintendo will work with Nvidia to create a custom processor based on Volta. In other words, not much will actually improve with the Switch Pro, it may just be a little faster.
However, Nintendo has since shut down rumors that a new Switch will release in 2020 - meaning we can probably assume the claims about performance are also untrue.
Production rumored to start as soon as April - Debunked
A report by Taiwan newspaper DigiTimes claimed that mass production on a new Switch will start "on the finish of first-quarter 2020"- with the console itself releasing in mid-2020. However, as we've pointed out, Nintendo has ruled out a 2020 release date.
No Switch Pro in 2019
At a press briefing for the announcement of the Switch Lite, Nintendo president Doug Bowser revealed that we wouldn't be seeing another new Switch model in 2019, according to CNET.
"[The Nintendo Switch Lite will] be the one new Nintendo Switch {hardware} this vacation, as Bowser says the bigger Switch will not get an improve proper now," CNET wrote.
However, Bowser's comments suggested an upgraded Switch model is on the way, perhaps a Switch Pro?
Two new Nintendo Switch devices
A Wall Street Journal report suggests that Nintendo is working on two individual Switch variants that, rather than making the current Nintendo Switch obsolete, would put it in the middle of a range growing to suit all budgets.
According the publication's sources, the first of these new devices will be aimed at budget gamers, and will see the Switch presented in a more traditional handheld-first format. It'll replace removable Joy-Cons with fixed ones, and ditch their HD Rumble feature in order to bring costs down. This was confirmed with the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite.
The second new version of the Nintendo Switch, going by the rumor, is a little harder to pin down, but would be a premium version of the console with "enhanced options focused at avid videogamers." That's not to suggest it would be aiming for 4K or HDR visuals, but would more likely have features and services baked in that would accommodate the modern obsession with streaming to platforms like Twitch.
The confirmation of the Switch Lite adds some weight to this report and could mean we will see another new premium Switch console at a future date.
The 5.0 firmware dig
Though the Nintendo Switch’s 5.0 firmware update wasn’t up to much on the surface, hackers on Switchbrew dug into the upgrade in 2019 and found evidence which suggests a hardware refresh is in the works.
Switchbrew discovered references to a new T214 chip (which would be a small improvement on the current T210) as well as an updated printed circuit board and 8GB of RAM instead of the current 4GB. This T214 is likely what was used in the Switch Lite and improved battery Switch, but we're expecting a Switch Pro to have even further hardware improvements that will push the devices overall performance.
AR and VR support
VR and AR support for the Switch never looked likely, with the MD of Nintendo France citing a lack of mainstream appeal for the technology back in 2018, but the Labo VR Kit shows Nintendo has changed its mind about the viability of VR.
The Switch doesn't have the high resolution of most VR gaming rigs, so we could see an advanced model with 2K or 4K resolution to improve those close-up VR experiences. However, given the VR Kit is still focused mainly on children, we'd be surprised to see a visual overhaul simply for this one peripheral.
What about 3D?
Another Nintendo patent came to light in early 2019: this time for a 3D sensor array that sits above your television, and creates a stereoscopic image in a similar way to the 3DS, meaning you wouldn't even need glasses.
3D visuals felt like a passing gimmick even with Nintendo's handheld consoles – and the defunct Microsoft Kinect camera will no doubt keep it wary of unnecessary TV peripherals. But getting convincing 3D imaging on standard 2D TVs may the step needed to bring 3D gaming mainstream.
Could it support 4K?
While Sony and Microsoft push at the 4K market, there isn’t really any big reason for Nintendo, the company that staunchly sets itself apart from other hardware producers, to follow suit.
In the same interview where he dismissed VR, Nintendo France General Manager Philippe Lavoué also brushed off 4K saying that the technology has “not been adopted by the majority” and it would, therefore, be too early for Nintendo to jump in.
Nintendo didn’t enter the HD console market until 2012 when it released the Wii U. This was around four years after Sony and Microsoft and at the point when more than 75% of US households actually had HD displays in their home.
Miyamoto however has said he wished Nintendo had done the jump to HD sooner than this, saying that the display technology became popular around three years before Nintendo expected it to. It's expected that by 2020, 50% of US households will have adopted 4K technology and it might be at this point that Nintendo decides to join the 4K fray, rather than waiting until the 75% market saturation of before.
Switch 2 could have a 7-inch OLED
The latest Nintendo Switch rumors points to the device having a 7-inch OLED screen from Samsung Display. Production is slated for July, according to Bloomberg, and the brand new system would help 4K decision when docked as an alternative of 1080p.
The display screen dimension is a pleasant improve over the unique Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, which at present provide LCD shows in 6.2-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, respectively.
