Nintendo is quietly upgrading the chip in the Nintendo Switch, but it’s not the Nintendo Switch Pro. It’s more of a cost-saving (and possibly anti-piracy) measure. But it could also bring performance and battery-life upgrades, but one thing is for sure: Nintendo is only releasing one completely new Switch model this year, and it ain’t Switch Pro.
Nintendo Switch Needs to Compete With Next-Gen
Everyone is talking about Sony’s PS5, with its blistering-fast load times and claims of 8K support. The next Xbox, currently known only as Project Scarlett, also promises 8K graphics and next-to-nothing load times. On the PC gaming front, long the leader in graphical performance, the new RTX graphics cards and AMDs next generation of gaming GPUs are dumping extraordinary amounts of power into our gaming computers.
It’s unrealistic to expect 8K support out of the plucky little Nintendo Switch, but something has to happen. Anyone who owns a Switch owns it for the portability, hybrid-design, and game library, but it’s going to be left way behind in the graphics department sooner rather than later.
How a Switch Pro Could Work
Moore’s Law basically says computing power pretty much doubles every two years. Since the Switch first released, we’ve seen the introduction of a whole new, more powerful line of graphics cards from Nvidia in its RTX line. Then Nvidia started cramming those GPUs inside gaming laptops, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility for a modified, more powerful version of the Tegra chip inside the current crop of Switches to get an upgrade.
There are also other tricks Nintendo could use to beef up Switch performance: it could increase processor power and RAM, like it did for the New Nintendo 3DS line, and do it more dramatically than recent FCC filings point to.
Or maybe, just maybe, it could release a dock designed to externally boost graphical performance. Such devices already exist in the Alienware Graphics Amplifier and the Razer CoreX eGPU. Both of those external solutions work with existing laptops to give them the graphical power of a desktop PC.
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The CoreX uses a Thunderbolt 3 connection, which is a type of USB-C cable capable of up to 40Gbit/s data transfer. The Nintendo Switch uses USB-C to output video (and to charge its batteries), so there’s already a port transferring video data when you’re in docked mode. Why not reroute that data and give the graphics a little extra pepper before they hit the TV? The Nintendo Switch Pro could be nothing more than an external GPU dock taking care of some of the heavy lifting. I’d be OK with that. It would be a great place for Nintendo to add a cartridge port for 3DS games and DS games, too. I would definitely be OK with that. I also welcome comments/suggestions as to why it could or couldn’t work.
Why I Think We’re Definitely Getting a Switch Pro
Nintendo said the Nintendo Switch Lite
is going to be the only Switch hardware revision we get this year. At least it was nice enough to include a special edition Pokemon Switch Lite. But I have my own, personal theory, a prediction I’m willing to stand-by: the announcement of The Witcher 3 for Nintendo Switch was a secret clue that we’re going to get a more powerful Switch. Yes, CD Projeckt Red confirmed the entire game, including DLC, is coming to the Switch version, but at a significant loss of graphical fidelity. In handheld mode, it will run at 540p. My crazy theory is The Witcher 3 will be the first game to take advantage of the performance-boosting power of a hypothetical Nintendo Switch Pro when it becomes available.
When Pokemon Sword and Shield were revealed, I predicted Nintendo would release a cheaper version of the Switch to entice more people into getting a Nintendo console, and I was right. You can ask anyone at IGN, because I won’t shut up about it. I feel deep in my heart my hypothesis about Nintendo Switch Pro is correct, but when you’re right 52% of the time, you’re wrong 48% of the time.
Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.
