Nintendo has been notably slow to follow up their highly successful Switch console, which was released in March 2017. However, according to new rumors, a Nintendo Switch Pro is in the works, and may be released as early as this year.
While Nintendo has officially said that it is not working on a Nintendo Switch Pro, infamous Nintendo analyst @PixelPar has tweeted that a new model is in the works.
Welp. Tried to keep away from these types of rumours for so long, but way too much smoke now.
It looks like a new model could be announced towards the end of the year.
Apparently works with current carts, improved perf, retains branding & form factor.
No more info than that.
— Pixelpar (@pixelpar) July 6, 2022
It is worth noting that @PixelPar correctly predicted the Splatoon 3 OLED Switch that was released late last month.
In classic Nintendo fashion, the Switch has set itself as a unique offering compared to the Sony PlayStation5 and Xbox Series X in the way it can be used as a portable handheld console, as well as a couch gaming machine. It also has a wide range of exclusives, as well as plenty of third-party titles, making it a fantastic buy.
However, what the Switch has always lacked is ‘oomph’, which has meant that demand for a more powerful model has been high.
According to the leak, the Switch Pro will feature better performance thanks to increased RAM and an Nvidia Tegra chipset. It is also expected to boast a larger display, and support 4K output when docked. On top of this, it will support current cartridges and boast a similar form factor, which ideally would allow older joy cons to work with the new device.
While this seems like a massive boost in all areas, comments on the leak have been sceptical, with some responding and suggesting that backwards compatibility would be impossible, and that a new model would require games to be recompiled.
For what it's worth, there is literally zero evidence in firmware/code that Nintendo is working on any other/new hardware at the moment. Zero indication of unknown devkits and no firmware support.
For Lite ("hoag") and OLED ("Aula") we had about 1.5 years of advance signs in fw.
— Michael (@SciresM) September 30, 2021
Models of the Switch currently include the Switch, the Switch Lite which is exclusively handheld and was released late 2019, and the Switch OLED which was released late last year. A device with upgraded hardware would make sense as new games such as the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 continue to strain the capabilities of the current Switch.
