The Nintendo Switch is fast approaching its third birthday, and it looks as though Nintendo intends to celebrate with a brand new Switch model early next year.
As VGC reports, a number of hardware manufacturers who supply components to Nintendo for the existing Switch and Switch Lite models, have stated Nintendo is gearing up to launch a new model. As you'd expect, it will be an upgrade to the existing hybrid console and will offer a better display and improved performance.
The existing models use a 6.2-inch and 5.5-inch 720p display respectively and rely on Nvidia's Tegra X1 system-on-chip (SoC). Nintendo's most likely upgrade path is to a 1080p display, but the SoC upgrade is less clear. According to The Verge, Nvidia no longer offers general-purpose mobile SoCs to third-parties, although it could make an exception for Nintendo due to the size of the order. Whatever Nintendo decides to do, backwards compatibility will be mandatory.
Games marketing for the remainder of 2020 will be dominated by Microsoft and Sony who are both gearing up for console launches in November. By waiting until early 2021, Nintendo can push a new Switch model out after the initial excitement for the PS5 and Xbox Series X has died down. It would also make a lot of sense to time the upgraded Switch to coincide with the console's third birthday on March 3. As for games, Metroid Prime 4 and a sequel to Breath of the Wild could be the first to take advantage of the extra performance and higher resolution display.
Further Reading
- Sony Releases First PlayStation 5 Ad
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- Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Explains Why the PlayStation 5 Is So Big
- Microsoft's Cheaper Xbox Series S Console Confirmed by Controller Packaging
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