Switch 2 Dock Teardown Reveals It Can Support 4k 120Hz – And Could Have Had DisplayPort

Since the Switch 2 launch we’ve been seeing several teardowns of the console and its accessories. Today a new teardown reveals some very interesting insights.

As shared on ResetERA by user GeoNeo, Restore Technique’s teardown video of the Switch 2 Dock confirms one thing; it uses the Realtek RTD2175N.

This component was confirmed from leaks dating back to two months ago. As explained by Fidler_2K in the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, this component should be able to support 4K at 120Hz, using Display Stream Compression (DSC). But just as interesting, this component could have supported DisplayPort, only Nintendo already confirmed that it only uses HDMI 2.1.

Obviously, most games won’t be able to take advantage of the Switch 2’s 4k 120Hz capability. It may be possible that some older Switch games could get this support in time, such as, say, the Borderlands Legendary Collection played on the Switch 2. But for now, we’ve seen that even optimized first party games, such as Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, can do 4K at 60FPS or 1080p at 120FPS.

It’s certainly interesting to see that Nvidia’s bigger involvement in the Switch 2’s technologies has caused us to start thinking about this console more like a PC, much as PlayStation and Xbox owners already see their consoles. It also makes us wonder if, like those consoles, Nintendo will join in on the mid-console refresh cycle with a potential Switch 2 Pro coming down the line.

But even if Nvidia and Nintendo doesn’t expand the technological capabilities of the Switch 2 with an upgrade, they could seriously consider giving that proverbial Switch 2 OLED with DisplayPort support sometime down the line. DisplayPort would allow for the Switch 2 to obtain power delivery and video output from the same port in the future, and it could be the Switch 2’s USB-C port.

But even beyond that, the DisplayPort standard also supports Display Stream Compression (DSC). In other words, that potential future Switch 2 with DisplayPort could also have games running 4K at 120Hz displays from a single USB-C port, thanks to DSC.

Once again, the big question here is what games would take advantage of 4K 120Hz support, but at least the case for DisplayPort is easier to see. For all we know, that’s something Nintendo could immediately enable on the launch version of the Switch 2 with a firmware update. This is simply one of those things which we will have to see play out in time after the Switch 2’s incredibly successful launch.