The Nintendo Switch 2 may have definitively been outed, ahead of Nintendo’s official reveal.
Reddit user MisterSheeple just posted details for the Nintendo Switch 2 factory prototypes, that leaked on a Chinese website.
We can’t view the purported images of the prototype, or share them ourselves. So, we will share the description provided by TheGamer instead:
“Notable changes from the original Switch include a USB-C port on the top and bottom of the console, a noticeably larger screen and what appears to be an extra bumper on each Joy-Con. The game slot appears to be the same on both models, implying backwards compatibility with games on the original Nintendo Switch.”
On the same thread, a separate leaker shared the purported specs for the console. We’ll share those details below:
- Shipping List Details Summary
- HGU1100: Game console itself.
- HGU1110: Left Joy-Con controller.
- HGU1120: Right Joy-Con controller.
- HGU1130: Dock.
- Detailed Configuration List
- SoCl (CPU + GPU) model: GMLX30-R-A1.
- Memory model: MT62F768M64D4EK-026 (6GX2 dual channel, LPDDR5X, 7500 MT/s)
- Flash memory model: THGJFGT1E45BAILHW0 (256GB, UFS 3.1, manufactured by Kaixia, 2100 MB/s).
- Audio chip model: Ruiwu ALC5658-CG.
- NFC reader model: NXP IPN7160B1HN
- Built-in microphone model: CMB-MIC-X7.
- Dual cooling fans, model BSM0405HPJH9 and BSM0505HPJQC (copper gaming heat sink).
- Video signal conversion (DisplayPort to HDMI) must be chip model; Ruixian RTD2175N must be chip (support HDMI 2.1).
- Network chip model: Ruiming RTL8153B-VB-CG and Gigabit Ethernet chip (the base has a network cable interface).
- Microcontroller chip model: STMicroelectronics JSTM32G0OB0OCET6.
- Video game console protective case model: HGU1100 (size: 206 x 115 x 14mm, made of plastic).
- Speakers: MUSE BOX-L and MUSE BOX-R (two-channel stereo)
As noted in the reddit, these details line up with information datamined from last May, which we reported on here.
That means these two rumors independently corroborated the specs of the console, but just so we’re clear, let me explain what each source is.
The information from four months ago was acquired by dataminers reviewing publicly available information on what components were being shipped to a factory that they believed would be manufacturing the Switch 2.
The information today is claimed to come from factory workers who have the console in their hands.
So, if these rumors are accurate, the CPU is the T239, using the GMLX30-R-A1 codename. There are 2 6 GB RAM chips, running LPDDR5X at 7500 MT/s. There is 256 GB in UFS 3.1 storage.
Now, its easy to get flabbergasted that everything that just got confirmed. What fans speculated then seems truer now, that the Switch 2 will have substantial hardware improvements over the original Switch. But we want to bring up something else that could get lost in all this information. If workers are leaking the prototypes in the factory, than they really are that much closer to manufacture.
All of this may force Nintendo to speed up their announcement of the Switch 2 even sooner than was originally planned. If everything about the device’s hardware has come out anyway, than is there really any point in staying on schedule? Unless there’s something about this device that is not visible even on the prototypes. As we had pointed out, they claim that what they’re leaking are prototypes, and not what is believed to be the final product.
We can’t end this by pointing out that even with this supposed corroborated information, it’s possible that these leaks are a well organized hoax. We don’t even have proof from these new leakers that they are who they say they are. We can’t help being excited ourselves, but we also have to be open to the possibility that this may all turn out to be wrong in the end.