The Japanese manufacturer is expected to launch a new version of its console six months before the release of Xbox Series X and PS5. Here's what it could look like
A new version of the Nintendo Switch console will enter production soon, to hit the market by summer 2020. This is what the Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes reports, confirming an earlier rumour published in August 2019 by the Wall Street Journal.
Of this console, which is not even officially confirmed by Nintendo, nothing is known at the moment. But much can be imagined since in September the Switch range has already expanded with the arrival of the Nintendo Switch Lite. After the cheap and compact version, therefore, now many expect a high-performance Nintendo Switch Pro to complete the offer. Nintendo has already undertaken such a commercial policy in the past, presenting different versions of the DS and 3DS over time. However, the doubts about the commercial positioning of a possible Nintendo Switch Pro are not lacking.
Nintendo Switch Pro: how it could be
The rumors (because at the moment only rumors we are talking about) say that the Nintendo Switch Pro will be more powerful than the normal Switch and will have the ability to handle a higher graphics resolution. However, for what the current Nintendo Switch's hardware is, it's unlikely that a more powerful CPU and GPU will be enough to get to truly high resolutions (read: 4K). The current model is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra X1 octacore SoC, dating back to 2015, with 20nm manufacturing technology. With this technology, you can't clock up much higher or the SoC heats up quite a bit. To get a truly high-performance Switch Pro, then, Nintendo would have to twist the internal architecture of its console by presenting something truly new. But would that make sense?
What's the point of a high-performance Nintendo Switch?
Timing also comes into play at this point: the Nintendo Switch Pro can't hit the market until mid-2020. So at most six months before two highly anticipated gaming consoles that, on the contrary, will have a lot of power: Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X. Two competitors against which Nintendo would do better not to confront, if not with a product that has nothing to do with the Switch and that is something completely different. The most likely thing, then, is that the Nintendo Switch will really arrive in mid-2020, but it will have unexciting performance. In this way, Nintendo will modernize the Switch range without distorting its meaning, without changing the target audience and, above all, without being forced to raise the price too much.