A new report about one of gaming’s most notorious “secret” consoles is out. According to it, the Nintendo Switch Pro that’s been rumored about for years might finally be on the way for real, and it’ll have a beautiful new screen to go with it. Even better, it’ll be out this year — always assuming, of course, that this iteration of the rumor is true.
The report comes from Bloomberg, and alleges that this upgraded Switch will have a 7-inch Samsung-made OLED display with a 720p resolution, and will output at 4K when docked. This is virtually identical to a leak about the in-development Switch Pro from a few months ago. Further rumors suggest that some games in development may be Switch Pro-exclusive. If true, it’d be a good candidate for Nintendo’s 2021 holiday season, and it would make a nice pattern — the Switch Lite launched two years after the Switch Classic, and it’s been two years since then.
Rumors about a Switch Pro have been circulating for practically the entirety of the Switch Classic’s lifespan. They became especially popular when the Switch Lite was launched, as a counterpoint to the Lite’s handheld-only variation on the Switch’s hybrid design. In almost every version of this rumor, the Switch Pro’s screen is bigger than the Classic’s, and 4K support is also a recurring feature.
The reaction to the 720p display has been… less than enthusiastic. Given the proposed size of the screen, 720p feels like the engineers behind the console are aiming a bit low. There are phones with smaller screens that can support 1080p, so it seems like a bit of a waste to make a fancy new screen that’s not even going to have that large of a resolution upgrade. Personally, I’m with Gamesbeat’s Mike Minotti that I would prefer a redesigned Joy-Con over a bigger screen — maybe a more ergonomic Joy-Con, since those things can get pretty uncomfortable.
Source: Bloomberg