Nintendo has already confirmed that the next gaming console it makes will be part of the Switch family. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t told us much else about the Switch 2. Now, the leakers have come out in full force to deliver little tidbits. The latest leak suggests that Nintendo is upping the performance to the point where the console will need a second cooler and a 60W charger.
The leaker, who posted on popular Nintendo message board Famiboards, claims to have seen packing slips showing the new console’s improved features. Of course, such things could be fake, but based on the existing leaks regarding the Switch 2’s specs, it would make sense that the device would require additional cooling and a larger power supply.
Interestingly, the rumored additional cooler is said to be located in the dock rather than the handheld console itself. This has led fans to speculate that it will provide a greater improvement in graphics and performance than the original Switch, but that remains to be seen.
As for the charger, 60W would allow for faster charging of the device. The current Switch can accommodate power adapters of up to 39W, but is rated to charge at around 18W, which is relatively slow compared to many modern devices. If this rumor is true, the Steam Deck charges at 45W, which would put the Switch 2 ahead of the popular portable PC in terms of pure charging speed.
So far, we’ve heard a leak about Switch 2’s specs, which says it will feature an NVIDIA Tegra 239 SoC combining the Ampere GPU architecture and 12GB of RAM. The gaming cards are rumored to be 5th generation Samsung V-NAND with a read speed of up to 1.4GB/s. It is expected to support NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction, which will allow it to deliver much sharper images than the current Switch.
In the podcast Moore’s Law Is Dead Broken Silicon, Matthew Cassells of Alderon Games talked about the performance of the Switch 2 and said it could compete with the Steam Deck.
One of the biggest advantages Nintendo has over the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, or any other portable gaming device is software – people love Nintendo games. They’re not available on other platforms. Despite the overall weaker visual performance, the Switch has been a huge success for Nintendo. If the company can bridge the visual gap while maintaining the other aspects of the Switch that gamers love, it could be even more successful.
