The Nintendo Switch 2 could come with a bigger 8-inch display and 512GB of storage, but also stick with an LCD panel rather than an OLED one.
That’s going by the informed claims of gaming tipster NateTheHate and corroborated by Andy Robinson at Video Games Chronicle, who claims to have sources with knowledge of Nintendo’s next-generation console plans.
NateTheHate says that based on what he’s hearing the Switch 2 will sport an LCD screen measuring 8 inches, thereby offering an upgrade over the 6.2-inch display on the original Nintendo Switch. The screen would also be bigger than the Nintendo Switch OLED’s 7-inch display but use a less advanced panel.
The tipster also claims that while the Switch 2 will still use cartridges like its predecessor, it will offer a new format of cartridge and also have 512GB of onboard storage; that’s a notable upgrade on the somewhat miserly 32GB found in the original Switch.
When discussing these rumors on the VGC podcast, Robinson said that NateTheHate is “on the money” and both tipsters have the Switch 2 slated for a release in the second half of 2024. The latter would go against other rumors of an early 2024 release.
Concrete details on the Switch 2, if it is indeed called that, are somewhat thin on the ground, as Nintendo is famously tight-lipped about its hardware plans. But with the original Switch having passed its 6th birthday earlier this year, there’s a strong argument for a more powerful and capable successor, especially as 4K TVs are more prolific than they were in 2017.
From my perspective, an LCD display for a next-generation Switch would be disappointing, as when comparing an LCD Switch to its OLED sibling, the latter offers a dramatically more impressive display in terms of colors and contrast. Equally, Nintendo could use an LCD panel to offer a speedy refresh rate without raising the price of the Switch 2.
News of 512GB of onboard storage is promising, as games get larger with each generation, and it's very easy to fill a standard Switch up with the best Nintendo Switch games, meaning you then need to hunt down a SD card to boost the storage; bypassing that with the Switch 2 would be appreciated.
As it stands, the Switch 2 simply exists as a collection of rumors, some more weighty than others. But I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see a new Nintendo console next year, or at least get an idea of the company’s console roadmap.
