Nintendo Switch Pro: what we want to see from a new Switch console

There have been rumors that Nintendo is working on a Nintendo Switch Pro for quite a while now. However, if Nintendo does indeed have something up its sleeve, we, at the very least, know it won’t be coming in 2020 as the company has confirmed it won’t be releasing any new consoles this year. 

That doesn’t guarantee, though, that we won’t see the release of a new Nintendo Switch sometime in the future. 

There’s already precedent another iteration of Nintendo’s beloved console. In 2019 there were technically two new Switch consoles: one with a longer battery life and a streamlined dedicated handheld, the Nintendo Switch Lite. After these another, more premium, version of the console doesn’t seem entirely out of the realms of possibility. 

This new Switch (or Switch Pro) could build on the original Nintendo Switch, offering upgraded hardware with improved graphics and processing power. There are many routes Nintendo could take to enhance the Nintendo Switch and while it’s been reported that any upgrade won’t be as extensive as we’d like to see, there’s nothing certain just yet. 

And that’s because, at this time, Nintendo hasn’t even confirmed the existence of a Switch Pro and it’s ruled out any new console in 2020. Regardless, the rumors persist so while we wait for more definitive answers from Nintendo, we’re going to run through the likely (and unlikely) possibilities for a Nintendo Switch Pro below.

In 2019, Nintendo released two new Switch devices: the Switch Lite and the Nintendo Switch with improved battery life. However, we’re still expecting the House of Mario to have yet another new Nintendo Switch up its sleeve.

A Wall Street Journal report has suggested that—in addition to these new devices—there’s also a premium Nintendo Switch console on the way: potentially a Switch Pro. While we’re taking these rumors with the requisite pinch of salt, the report did correctly predict the release of the Switch Lite, adding more weight to this speculation. But when could we see this new Switch?

Several reports claimed that we would be seeing a new Switch in 2020, however Nintendo has officially shut down these rumors. Nintendo’s CEO Shuntaro Furukawa has said that there are “no plans to launch a new Nintendo Switch model during 2020” which is a fairly clear cut statement. 

That means we’re pretty much in the dark about when a Switch Pro might arrive but we’re hoping for a release date sometime next year.

Obviously redesigns cost money, and redesigns with improved hardware doubly so. We’re fully expecting the Switch Pro, with its updated hardware, to cost more than the current Switch’s £279/ $299/AU$469 pricing. 

In addition, the Switch Lite isn’t exactly cheap. The handheld Switch costs $199.99/£199.99/AU$329.95, which isn’t too far off the original’s price – and that’s with fewer features than the original.

Dr Toto suggested a price tag of $399, which seems a good estimate. After all, the PS4 Pro is $100 more than the PS4. The price mark up takes into account the improved hardware without being prohibitive. However, this is Nintendo we’re talking about, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Switch Pro cost a tad more than that.

Nintendo may not have officially announced the Switch Pro, but we’ve gathered all the biggest news and rumors surrounding the new Nintendo Switch right here for your perusal.

Nintendo isn’t worried about the next console generation

2020 isn’t the year of a new Nintendo Switch console, but it is the year that Sony and Microsoft launch the next generation of consoles: the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Nintendo, however, isn’t worried about catching up. Talking to investors during a Japanese Q&A (via VGC), Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa said that while the gaming landscape will change, the company doesn’t think the release of these next-gen consoles will have a big impact on its own fortunes.

“We do not believe that the business trends of other companies will have a significant impact on our business,” Furukawa told investors, explaining that the reason Nintendo is so confident that the PS5 and Xbox Series X won’t pose huge competition is because the Nintendo Switch targets a different audience.

While this doesn’t tell us a whole lot about any specific new console plans Nintendo has, it does suggest that the company isn’t feeling any great hurry or pressure from its supposed competitors to release, or even announce, a Nintendo Switch Pro in the immediate future. 

No 4K or performance upgrades? – Debunked
On Korean site Clién’s community forums (via Wccftech), a poster named Cathedral Knight claimed that the Switch Pro will launch in Q4 2020 but will not boast 4K and upgraded performance as expected.

Instead of moving to an upgraded version of Tegrax1 +GPU, the post claims Nintendo will work with Nvidia to create a custom processor based on Volta. In other words, not much will actually improve with the Switch Pro, it may just be a little faster.

However, Nintendo has since shut down rumors that a new Switch will release in 2020 – meaning we can probably assume the claims about performance are also untrue.

Production rumored to start as soon as April – Debunked
A report by Taiwan newspaper DigiTimes claimed that mass production on a new Switch will start “at the end of first-quarter 2020”- with the console itself releasing in mid-2020. However, as we’ve pointed out, Nintendo has ruled out a 2020 release date.

No Switch Pro in 2019
At a press briefing for the announcement of the Switch Lite, Nintendo president Doug Bowser revealed that we wouldn’t be seeing another new Switch model in 2019, according to CNET.

“[The Nintendo Switch Lite will] be the only new Nintendo Switch hardware this holiday, as Bowser says the larger Switch won’t get an upgrade right now,” CNET wrote.

However, Bowser’s comments suggested an upgraded Switch model is on the way, perhaps a Switch Pro?

Two new Nintendo Switch devices
A Wall Street Journal report suggests that Nintendo is working on two individual Switch variants that, rather than making the current Nintendo Switch obsolete, would put it in the middle of a range growing to suit all budgets.

According the publication’s sources, the first of these new devices will be aimed at budget gamers, and will see the Switch presented in a more traditional handheld-first format. It’ll replace removable Joy-Cons with fixed ones, and ditch their HD Rumble feature in order to bring costs down. This was confirmed with the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite.

The second new version of the Nintendo Switch, going by the rumor, is a little harder to pin down, but would be a premium version of the console with “enhanced features targeted at avid videogamers.” That’s not to suggest it would be aiming for 4K or HDR visuals, but would more likely have features and services baked in that would accommodate the modern obsession with streaming to platforms like Twitch. 

The confirmation of the Switch Lite adds some weight to this report and could mean we will see another new premium Switch console at a future date.

The 5.0 firmware dig
Though the Nintendo Switch’s 5.0 firmware update wasn’t up to much on the surface, hackers on Switchbrew dug into the upgrade in 2019 and found evidence which suggests a hardware refresh is in the works. 

Switchbrew discovered references to a new T214 chip (which would be a small improvement on the current T210) as well as an updated printed circuit board and 8GB of RAM instead of the current 4GB. This T214 is likely what was used in the Switch Lite and improved battery Switch, but we’re expecting the Switch Pro to have even further hardware improvements that will push the devices overall performance.

AR and VR support
VR and AR support for the Switch never looked likely, with the MD of Nintendo France citing a lack of mainstream appeal for the technology back in 2018, but the Labo VR Kit shows Nintendo has changed its mind about the viability of VR.

The Switch doesn’t have the high resolution of most VR gaming rigs, so we could see an advanced model with 2K or 4K resolution to improve those close-up VR experiences. However, given the VR Kit is still focused mainly on children, we’d be surprised to see a visual overhaul simply for this one peripheral.

What about 3D?
Another Nintendo patent came to light in early 2019: this time for a 3D sensor array that sits above your television, and creates a stereoscopic image in a similar way to the 3DS, meaning you wouldn’t even need glasses.

3D visuals felt like a passing gimmick even with Nintendo’s handheld consoles – and the troubled Microsoft Kinect camera will no doubt keep it wary of unnecessary TV peripherals. But getting convincing 3D imaging on standard 2D TVs may the step needed to bring 3D gaming mainstream.

Could it support 4K?
While Sony and Microsoft push at the 4K market, there isn’t really any big reason for Nintendo, the company that staunchly sets itself apart from other hardware producers, to follow suit. 

In the same interview where he dismissed VR, Nintendo France General Manager Philippe Lavoué also brushed off 4K saying that the technology has “not been adopted by the majority” and it would, therefore, be too early for Nintendo to jump in. 

Nintendo didn’t enter the HD console market until 2012 when it released the Wii U. This was around four years after Sony and Microsoft and at the point when more than 75% of US households actually had HD displays in their home. 

Miyamoto however has said he wished Nintendo had done the jump to HD sooner than this, saying that the display technology became popular around three years before Nintendo expected it to. It’s expected that by 2020, 50% of US households will have adopted 4K technology and it might be at this point that Nintendo decides to join the 4K fray, rather than waiting until the 75% market saturation of before. 

• Looking forward to the next generation of gaming? Read more about the Xbox Series X and PS5