There’s an interesting rumor going around about what could be the Switch 2’s dock.
As shared on the GamingLeaksandRumours subreddit by user MasterVahGilns, there’s an alleged dock design that was posted on Famiboards. Famiboards user ninspider made a simple drawing of the dock, which was posted on imgur.
The image shows the dock next to a Switch console without Joy-Cons, presumably of the Switch 2. The Switch 2 itself has a newly designed kickstand at the back. The original Switch had a small arm that lifted in the left hand side, and the Switch OLED has a wider, thinner sheet of metal that lifts up from the middle to the bottom and holds the console at multiple angles.
The new kickstand has a U shape, that runs across the sides and bottom of the console. We won’t pretend to have any expertise in product design, but the change may be so that it would be cheaper to make the kickstand in general. We have to question if this kickstand could break, but that can be better verified if we get it in our hands.
The dock itself has made a drastic change in shape. While the Switch Dock has mainly been a rectangular box with an opening to fit the Switch in, this new dock has a triangular wedge across the side. And that is the same side that has two smaller rectangles, that look like they are the dock’s USB-A ports.
The reason we are reporting on this at all is NatetheHate lent credence to this rumor. In his words:
“All I can say is that the dock sketch is similar in design/shape to one I was sent several weeks ago (meaning a drawing of the alleged dock); but I’ve been working to verify it.
Whether this design has circulated Chinese forums or not, I don’t know; but the general design matches what I was sent in September. Again, haven’t verified the design with any contact/source at this time.”
We reported on a patented Switch dock last August, designed so that the screen would no longer be covered. While patents are not rumors and are definitely confirmed, they do not necessarily lead to products being finalized and coming to market.
As to why the Switch 2 dock has a new shape, it’s easy to make some educated guesses. The Switch dock is essentially a pass through for several inputs, and does not have any extra hardware in it.
The Switch 2 dock may need to have cooling components to make the console run better when it is docked. It may also have actual hardware to improve performance, or add extra functionality.
We have seen external GPUs and GPU docks come to market for handheld gaming PCs. They have gotten far enough in development that you can get a power bank-sized eGPU like the OneXGPU. The Switch 2 dock doesn’t even need to be portable, but Nintendo could have invested in technology like this.
And this Switch 2 dock may not be all that powerful now, but it opens the door for Nintendo to release more powerful hardware in future docks for the console. This is all speculatory, but with this technology now available, it’s definitely possible that Nintendo has planned for all of this in advance.
