Rumor mill: It’s only been a few days since Nintendo finally confirmed a successor to the Switch would arrive sometime before April 2025. Now, leaks could have revealed what specs the next-gen handset will be packing, as well as a potential launch window.
Users on the Famiboards forum who have been tracking customers and shipping data say information on Switch 2 shipments from March has now been made publicly available.
According to a user called LiC, the Switch will feature 12GB of RAM, made up of two 6GB modules running at 7,500 MT/s. It’s unclear whether this is LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X memory. If true, that’s a big step up from the current Switch. The aging handheld packs 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM offering 3,200 MT/s.
It’s also stated that the Switch 2 will feature 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. The original Switch comes with just 32GB, a portion of which is reserved for use by the system, leaving 25.9GB, though users can buy microSD cards to expand this. It can reach a peak of 300 MB/s, while UFS 3.1 is capable of sequential read speeds of up to 2,100 MB/s, close to the 2.4 GB/s read speed of the Xbox Series X and S consoles.
Based on leaked parts, here’s a to scale mockup of the Switch 2 size, compared to OG Switch and SteamDeck.
By mjayer on famiboards pic.twitter.com/14WfkY6NGW
– Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) May 9, 2024
A leak from earlier this year claimed the Switch 2 will continue using an Nvidia chip rather than jumping ship to AMD. Long-time rumors point to an Nvidia T239, a customized version of the current T234, powering the next-gen handheld. The current version uses Nvidia’s Tegra X1 and, later, the X1+ SoC.
The Switch 2 is also said to introduce a new cartridge format, though the console should be compatible with original Switch cartridges. The new console’s dock is expected to support 4K resolution output via USB-C, and there could even be DLSS support.
Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa this week confirmed that the long-awaited Switch successor will be here sometime during its current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. Furukawa added that there will be no mention of the console at the Nintendo Direct event being held in June.
New Switch 2 leaks, via Brazilian tvPH. This is the same person that originally correctly leaked the internal delay of the console to next year.
– Switch 2 planned to release on March 2025.
– Expecting more information about the console in fall.
– More remasters will be revealed…– Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) May 7, 2024
It was expected that Nintendo would wait until March 2025 to release the Switch 2 as that would line up with the original Switch’s March 3, 2017, launch date. Other leakers have backed up this claim, as well as the belief that Nintendo will make an official announcement/reveal sometime this fall.
These are all rumors and claims that should be taken with a pinch of salt, of course. Expect some more solid details to arrive later this year.