Reports suggest the next Nintendo Switch, or what could be considered the long-rumored Nintendo Switch Pro, is in the works. New information for Bloomberg’s sources are pointing at a new model Nintendo Switch console with a larger OLED display, and you guessed it, a 4K output. It could be set for release as early as this year and ready for the 2021 holiday season. More details below.
The next Nintendo Switch
After Nintendo released the updated Switch console with longer battery life back in 2019, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company has no plans to unveil the next Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo Switch Pro “anytime soon.” Fast forward to today, and it appears as though Samsung is readying its manufacturing plants to produce what is rumored to be the new OLED display for a new Switch model.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, Samsung will begin mass-producing the new Nintendo Switch Pro OLED display as early as June of this year with the intention of getting it out to the assembly lines in July. Samsung will be initially targeting around 1 million units per month.
Nintendo Switch Pro?
The display in question here is said to be a 7-inch, 720p OLED panel – that’s slightly larger than the 6.2-inch LCD on the Switch as well as the 5.5-inch variant on the Switch Lite. Not only larger, but it could also be even more efficient when it comes to battery life, which, in turn, could help to support rumors that this new Nintendo Pro model will be able to split out 4K video to compatible displays.
9to5Toys‘ take
There are no details on internal upgrades in today’s report, but it could certainly be a missed opportunity on Nintendo’s part to omit some kind of 4K upgrade here. Especially as the Switch era approaches its sixth year and high-end machines from Sony and Microsoft begin to dominate the hearts and minds of gamers.
While fear of the announcement marginalizing sales of the current-generation machines are real, chip shortages on the Sony and Microsoft side of the fence, alongside breakout hits like Animal Crossing have kept Nintendo in fairly good standing, according to sales numbers and various reports. What would likely be a less than stellar or somewhat flat 2021 holiday season for Nintendo could turn into a major Mushroom Kingdom buying fest really quick with a new Nintendo Switch Pro (or New Nintendo Switch or whatever it ends up being called).
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