Ever because the Nintendo Swap first launched in 2017, followers have been obsessive about what the subsequent model of the console can be, whether or not it’s the Swap 2, New Nintendo Swap, Swap Professional – or one thing else fully.
After all, the Swap has already been up to date a number of instances already. We’ve had a barely tweaked model of the unique with improved battery life, but in addition the portable-only Swap Lite and extra not too long ago the Swap (OLED) with an upgraded show.
The OLED model is the console that many thought would be a 4K-capable Swap Professional, nevertheless it wasn’t to be. That doesn’t imply that Nintendo doesn’t have a much bigger improve within the works although, and there are already stories that one other Swap is on the way in which. Right here’s what we all know to date – and our hopes for the options Nintendo may pack in, together with a brand new Qualcomm chip that would unlock 5G Swap gaming.
When will the Nintendo Swap 2 be launched?
Nintendo Swap 2 rumours have been popping up persistently because the
authentic Swap first launched in 2017, which makes it arduous to place an excessive amount of inventory in any that tout particular dates.
The Swap Lite launched in September 2019, with the Swap (OLED) following in October 2021, so one other two 12 months hole is believable sufficient – which might give us a brand new console in autumn 2023.
An improve might come prior to that although. Within the wake of the announcement of the OLED improve, Tokyo-based video games trade analyst Serkan Toto instructed Bloomberg that it’s attainable Nintendo is already arduous at work on a “actual improve” that would launch along with, or shortly following, Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 – itself set to launch in Could this 12 months.
“This new Swap seems extra like an interim mannequin than an actual improve to me,” mentioned Tokyo-based analyst Serkan Toto. “This may simply be a dummy improve till Breath of the Wild 2 is prepared and the part scarcity is over subsequent 12 months.”
Extra proof of that comes from an evaluation of the tech specialists at Digital Foundry. Speaking about one of many recreation’s trailers, Digital Foundry’s expertise editor Richard Leadbitter famous that “The leap in picture high quality in comparison with the primary title is stark,” prompting video producer Alex Battaglia to argue that this footage may not be from a Swap in any respect:
“I actually don’t suppose it’s [Switch footage]. We’ve seen volumetric clouds very not often on Swap, and these don’t break down tremendous clearly. Digital camera cuts even have excellent anti-aliasing, which is even uncommon for an Xbox Collection X or PlayStation 5 recreation. It might be the subsequent Swap,” Battaglia argued.
“I usually suppose that since they’re delaying it now, that is gonna be the equal of what we noticed with Breath of the Wild: it launches on the outdated and likewise on the brand new, and we see the good advantages of the brand new relating to Swap Professional, Swap 2, Swap EX no matter.”
To throw some chilly water on that fireside, Bloomberg reported in January 2023 that Nintendo is growing manufacturing of the Swap forward of the subsequent Zelda’s launch. It’s attainable that would embody plans for brand new {hardware}, however extra probably that it means larger shipments of present tech – not the transfer you’d count on the corporate to make if it was about to concern a shock launch of an upgraded mannequin.
What we do know is that the Swap 2 or Professional received’t launch earlier than the subsequent Zelda recreation. Japanese finance web site Nikkei stories that Nintendo received’t launch new {hardware} this monetary 12 months, which suggests no new Swap console till March 2023 on the earliest.
As for Nintendo’s official phrase on the launch of the Swap’s successor? It’s launching in ’20XX’. In order that’s solely a 77-year window then. That comes from an investor presentation given in late 2021 – however does not less than affirm that Nintendo does have extra {hardware} on the way in which, in case you weren’t positive.
How a lot will the brand new Nintendo Swap value?
Whereas we don’t know for positive, it’s most certainly that the Swap 2 or Professional would see a value improve from the prevailing Swap fashions.
The common mannequin is priced at £259/$299, whereas the OLED model is £309/$349. If an improve comes with options like 4K assist or extra highly effective graphics, count on it to value greater than both.
What is going to the 4K Swap be known as?
One apparent query is what the subsequent Swap can be. Many anticipated the Swap (OLED) to be known as the Swap Professional, and it’s nonetheless attainable that Nintendo might use this title, or one thing comparable, to point that the brand new mannequin is extra highly effective, however nonetheless part of the identical console technology. Just like the Swap (OLED), it might additionally merely nod on to its key new spec and go by the title Swap 4K.
A extra probably title harks again to the corporate’s earlier naming conference: the New Nintendo Swap. The corporate has used the ‘New’ branding on just a few of its 3DS upgrades, so might repeat the trick right here.
If as an alternative Nintendo sees this as a complete new technology, it might after all merely be known as the Swap 2. One other traditional Nintendo transfer could be to name it the Tremendous Nintendo Swap, however that feels a bit of unlikely to us.
Lastly, with Nintendo’s previous, it’s simply as probably that the corporate will drop the Swap title fully and go for one thing completely new. The SNES and the Wii U are the one two residence consoles which have borrowed their predecessors’ names, and solely a type of labored out. We’d not be capable of predict the title of Nintendo’s subsequent console in any respect.
What is going to the Swap Professional’s specs be?
Whereas there haven’t been many direct leaks or rumours concerning the subsequent Swap’s specs because the OLED mannequin was introduced, we nonetheless have some thought what could be on the way in which. That’s as a result of so lots of the leaks from earlier than that launch pointed to a really totally different gadget to what was revealed – suggesting that maybe a few of these leaks have been in truth for the subsequent upcoming console.
Two earlier Bloomberg stories declare that Nintendo “has regarded into together with extra computing energy and 4K high-definition graphics,” and quote a number of nameless third-party recreation builders who declare that “Nintendo has requested them to make their video games 4K-ready.”
These predictions have been reiterated in Bloomberg’s September 2021 report, which claims that not less than 11 recreation corporations “starting from giant publishers to small studios” – together with Zynga – have already got 4K Swap dev kits, which had apparently already been handed out by the point the OLED mannequin was introduced.
Each Zynga and Nintendo have been fast to disclaim the report, the latter tweeting that “we’ve got no plans for any new mannequin apart from Nintendo Swap – OLED Mannequin.”
That report (and denial) got here earlier than the OLED mannequin hit retailer cabinets although, so it’s solely pure that Nintendo would wish to downplay any stories into future consoles, because it wouldn’t wish to disrupt gross sales of that {hardware}, so take any official assertion right here with a agency pinch of salt.
The truth is, the Swap OLED itself incorporates some proof that Nintendo could be engaged on 4K assist – or relatively, the dock does. Twitter person KawlunDram identified that the brand new dock incorporates a Realtek chip that’s specced for 4K assist, and that it ships with an HDMI 2.0 cable that additionally helps 4K – each adjustments from the unique Swap.
Now, that doesn’t imply that the Swap OLED is about to get a firmware replace for 4K assist. In any case, whereas the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip inside technically helps 4K@60fps, in apply it’s not highly effective sufficient to ship that on many demanding Swap video games.
As a substitute, this seems like good proof that Nintendo is readying its provide chain for 4K {hardware} – and, certainly, additional purpose for some to invest that the OLED mannequin was initially meant to assist 4K, however that plans modified.
It’s price clarifying that if 4K is included, it’s anticipated to solely be for the console’s TV output – with the hand-held show more likely to both stay at 720p, or get a slight improve to 1080p.
An EDN report claims that Nintendo was trying to undertake a Mini LED panel equipped by Taiwanese producer Innolux, which might assist drive higher picture high quality and improved battery life – little question each priorities for Nintendo’s upgraded Swap.
The 4K assist might be powered by a brand new Nvidia chip that may use the agency’s DLSS (Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling) tech, which makes use of machine studying to render greater decision photographs extra effectively. This can require assist to be enabled inside video games although, so don’t count on older Swap titles to assist 4K output except devs take the time to patch it in.
There’s proof of this in leaks from Nvidia code which level to an API named ‘nvn2’ – which is important as a result of the equal for the Swap was named, you guessed it, ‘NVN’.
The code factors to assist for Nvidia’s Ampere GPU structure, which helps DLSS – together with ray-tracing, although this latter feels much less more likely to make it into Nintendo’s {hardware}.
The leak additionally references T234 – aka Tegra234, the code for Nvidia’s Orin System-on-Chip – and T239 – presupposed to be a customized model of that chip, beforehand rumoured to be within the works for the Swap Professional. T239 has popped up once more since in an e-mail from an Nvidia worker, noticed by a Redditor. It hints that it could be an 8-core chip, however doesn’t say rather more – and positively doesn’t affirm a hyperlink to the subsequent Swap console.
Nintendo is taking a look at next-gen designs too. As picked up by Polygon, Nintendo filed for an attention-grabbing Pleasure-Con-related patent in Japan, and it seems like it will deal with a strain level of the present Swap. That strain level is consolation over lengthy intervals in handheld mode, and hardcore Swap players will know what we’re speaking about right here.
Nintendo appears to concentrate on the difficulty, and is contemplating fixing it with upgraded, flexible Pleasure-Cons. As seen within the beneath picture from the patent, the brand new prime third of every Pleasure-Con can bend, which ought to enhance ergonomics over lengthy intervals of play. After all, this isn’t affirmation that these up to date Pleasure-Cons will ever hit the market, nevertheless it’s good to see Nintendo actively engaged on enhancements.
What we wish to see from the Nintendo Swap 2
There will not be a lot info on-line concerning the Nintendo Swap 2, however that hasn’t stopped us from desirous about what we’d wish to see from the next-gen console. After just a few years with the first-gen console, and our gripes from reviewing the Swap (OLED), listed here are the most important adjustments that we’d prefer to see within the Nintendo Swap 2.
Greater decision show & 4K output
One of many largest drawbacks of the Nintendo Swap is the 720p show; positive, the console can output in full 1080p HD when linked to a TV, however in a day and age the place there are 4K smartphones available on the market, certainly Nintendo might’ve bumped the display screen as much as not less than 1080p?
Whereas the Swap (OLED) sticks with a 720p show and 1080p docked output, we’d love for the Nintendo Swap 2 to improve to a 1080p show and 4K TV output to actually showcase how wonderful Swap video games like Zelda: BotW and Tremendous Mario Odyssey look.
Then once more, there’s a steadiness between battery life and show high quality, which leads us to our subsequent level…
Higher battery life
The battery life on the Nintendo Swap isn’t unhealthy by any means, particularly when in comparison with gaming laptops, nevertheless it might at all times be higher. There’s a plethora of nice Nintendo Swap energy banks and helpful equipment that’ll prolong the battery lifetime of the console, however these come at a value; they’re heavy and ponderous, and in the event that they don’t connect on to the console, it’s one other accent to hold round.
2019 introduced a mildly up to date model of the Swap with small enhancements to battery life, however the OLED improve didn’t ship any additional enhancements. We’d prefer to see one thing extra substantial within the Swap Professional. Are we being too grasping by asking for 10 hours of play on a single cost? We don’t suppose so.
Oh, and we’d like to see the introduction of fast-charge expertise to hurry up the recharge time and permit forgetful players to present the console a fast top-up earlier than heading out.
Bigger on-device storage
The Nintendo Swap comes with 32GB of built-in storage, which went as much as 64GB on the OLED mannequin, each expandable by way of microSD card. That’s sufficient for just a few Swap video games, however is much from the capacities supplied by the PS5 and Xbox Collection X.
We’d like to see extra storage obtainable on the Swap 2 – perhaps not as a lot as 1TB, however 128 and even 256GB isn’t unreasonable – once more, these figures are fairly commonplace on telephones now. This could enable players to retailer a big library of video games with out having to put money into a microSD card, which is basically required with the first-gen Swap.
With storage costs dropping every single day, we don’t see this as a lot of an ask, particularly by the point the console seems in a pair years’ time.
Improved specs
In addition to bigger storage, we’d prefer to see a giant enchancment by way of graphical output. The primary downside of the Nintendo Swap is that it isn’t highly effective sufficient to deal with a number of the largest, finest video games obtainable – and those who do make it to the console often seem later than on different platforms. We think about this partially as a result of time it takes to correctly optimise the sport for the comparatively low-powered console.
Each Swap mannequin available on the market is powered by the 5-year-old Nvidia Tegra X1, and cell processing has come on a great distance since that chip was developed. It’s about time Nintendo packed extra highly effective silicon into the Swap Professional.
A bump in graphical energy would deliver extra high-end video games to the console, pace up Swap releases and usually make the video games look higher, making it extra engaging to a bigger viewers. Who doesn’t need that?
5G networking
One characteristic we didn’t know we would have liked till it was supplied is 5G assist. Chipset producer Qualcomm has revealed a chip known as the Snapdragon G3x Gen 1, which powers the 5G, Android-based handheld recreation console the Razer Edge, which might play video games domestically or stream them from the cloud.
The G3x – or a future technology of the chip – might feasibly energy the Swap, although it’s definitely a protracted shot. Nonetheless, if it did, together with the core processing potential it will additionally unlock 5G networking.
Think about a Swap 2 that you can use to play on-line or obtain new video games from wherever, with out having to fret about connecting to a Wi-Fi community. It could be a game-changer for the Swap as a transportable platform, and massively enhance its place for on-line gaming.
Then once more, on-line gameplay and networking has by no means been Nintendo’s robust swimsuit, so this may increasingly actually be a pipe dream…
