A new Nintendo Switch model will begin production before the end of the year and launch in early 2021, according to a new report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News. The latest version of the handheld/console hybrid will apparently be the long-rumored “pro” edition of the device, and will feature a better display and be “more interactive,” although details on what that actually means are unclear.
News of a revamped model of the Nintendo Switch began as early as late 2018, and emerged again at an earnings call in January 2020, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said players should not expect a new version of the Switch before the end of the year, something he had also stated in early 2019.
Rumors of a new Switch have almost universally included claims of a better display and CPU, with some analysts believing it could even hit 4K resolution while docked, and others predicting a more modest 1080p output while in handheld mode.
By the time the original Switch launched in 2017, the upgraded PlayStation 4 Pro had already been released, and the improved Xbox One X would be on the market within a matter of months. Both the One X and Pro support 4K, or gaming at 1080/1440p with 60fps. The Switch was already lagging in terms of fidelity, which for the most part, has not been a problem, as it is still one of the most in-demand consoles and its exclusives are some of the most well-reviewed games of this generation.
That being said, recent third-party titles that have been altered to run on the significantly less powerful hardware have frequently been criticized for sacrificing too much to work on a more portable device. Even worse, titles like Doom Eternal, which was promised Switch editions, are nowhere to be seen.
As we transition to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, two devices that will support many games at 4K60, and potentially 8K120 in the near future, it’s clear that sooner or later, the Nintendo Switch will need to make some serious upgrades if it wishes to support titles that come to the next generation.
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