Nintendo has officially revealed its latest revision of its handheld/console hybrid and it's called the Nintendo Switch OLED. For many, this was a bit underwhelming as there were numerous reports over the last year that the Japanese platform holder was developing a beefed-up version of the console that was being heralded as the "Nintendo Switch Pro". The Nintendo Switch OLED is largely the same console, with a few relatively minor changes in the grand scheme of things.
Nintendo stealthily announced the Nintendo Switch OLED with little fanfare. Although the trailer was well put together and the console looks cool, aesthetically speaking, it's not what fans were hoping for. The console will retail at $350 USD when it releases in October, pricing it $50 more than the standard console and $150 more than the Lite. Although nothing has been confirmed, this may phase out the current standard Switch as it largely improves everything about it at a slightly increased cost.
Still, some fans are wondering if there's anything under the hood that may give it a slight boost in performance. In a statement to The Verge, Nintendo confirmed that the Nintendo Switch OLED has no new CPU or more RAM when compared to previous models. Previous rumors stated the Nintendo Switch Pro would have 4K output, but there's nothing terribly special about this new revision in handheld mode or when it's docked. Whether or not something is still in the pipeline for a 2022 release is unknown, but for now, there's no amped-up Nintendo Switch.
It's not exactly clear how so many insiders and incredibly reputable publications like Bloomberg all got similar info, noting that the internals of the Nintendo Switch were getting an upgrade. It's possible Nintendo was planning this, but somewhere along the way, things changed and decided to keep costs lower with a more minor upgrade. It's unclear how long Nintendo plans to support this console, but it'll likely want to have some sort of upgrade at some point if it wants to keep pulling big third party games to its platform.
Perhaps next year will bring surprises, as insiders previously suggested a 2022 release for the Nintendo Switch Pro, but only time will tell. Nintendo has a history with frequent revisions of its hardware, so it wouldn't be hard to believe a much larger revision is coming next year to coincide with big games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Perhaps the Nintendo Switch OLED is just the beginning of something bigger!
Source: The Verge