The Nintendo Switch Pro Leaks That Were True, and The Ones That Weren't
Nintendo has just recently pulled the curtain back on its upcoming, updated Nintendo Switch OLED model. Many fans seem to be excited about the release, while others understandably have their own concerns. It's certainly fascinating to think how Nintendo will manage to ensure console availability across supported regions, but fans seem to be hopeful for now, despite the shortage of consoles throughout 2021.
The announcement might have been unceremonious, considering the long history of rumors and speculation the console had. Now, with Nintendo having shown off the console officially, the time seems ripe to delve deeper and see what the Nintendo Switch Pro leaks and rumors got right, and what they didn't.
The biggest reason for many fans feeling disappointed following the reveal can be attributed to the long line of rumors and speculation suggesting a massive spec bump. As it turns out, the only thing that the Switch Pro leaks seem to get right was the inclusion of a 7 inch OLED screen.
The most prominent and credible source of information on the matter came from Universal Display Corp's investor results taking place back in May 2021. CEO Steven V. Abramson stated that Nintendo had selected an OLED panel for the Switch Pro, and the credibility lies in the fact that UCD supplies hardware components to Samsung to manufacture those screens, which would eventually end up in the Nintendo Switch OLED model.
While there was only one notable leak that eventually turned out to be true, there are a number of leaks that didn't turn out so. For starters, no leaker or industry insider was able to correctly predict the name of the updated console. Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch Pro, and Nintendo Super Switch being the names by which the console was referred to pre-announcement, Nintendo kept it simple. In hindsight, Nintendo Switch OLED model might not sound as exciting a name as previously suggested, but does a fine enough job at setting fan expectations for improvements to the console.
Another notable leak that turned out to be quite wrong was the inclusion of the 4K screen, or 4K capability altogether. Many leakers and insiders claimed that Nintendo would be using a 4K panel for the now-confirmed Nintendo Switch OLED model. The reason behind it was attributed to the fact that, in order to compete with Sony and Microsoft's next-gen machines, Nintendo would use an OLED screen with a 4K resolution. The rumor has been debunked now, with the updated console having the same 720p resolution as the base Switch variant.
Those who got the opportunity to get hands-on with the Switch have already expressed concerns regarding the sub-par image quality which is especially evident with the larger screen. However, all of it stands to reason since Nintendo itself hasn't ever been known to push the boundaries in terms of raw power, as much as it is known for innovative features and accompanying excellent first-party software.
However, the biggest feature that leaks got wrong was the upgrade to the internals. While a number of possible upgrade paths were being posited pre-announcement, the most notable suggested an upgrade to the CPU and GPU with a Tegra Xavier chip swap, accompanied by an increase of 4 GB RAM, making 8 GB of RAM total. Finally, the leak also suggested DLSS support, as well as a 54 GB SSD. While the leak was questionable for the same fact as the 4K screen leak, both of these leaks seemingly provided a bit of credibility to each other that made them believable to many.
As fans might already know, none of these leaks actually turned out true. The Nintendo Switch OLED model has marginally more storage, but it's still not an SSD as the leak suggested. To reiterate, Nintendo has never been keen on pushing for better internals in console upgrades, which is the same for this case as well. There was a lot of speculation regarding Switch Pro exclusives pre-announcement, which if true, could make things even more confusing for Switch fans down the line.
With a relatively minuscule number of upgrades from the base variant of the Switch, many fans seem to be perplexed about the demographic the Nintendo Switch OLED model is geared towards. From what's known and can be gathered from early previews of the console, Nintendo seems to be targeting its console towards people who don't own a Switch up until this point. The $50 premium seems to be justified over the base model for the nicer screen, which falls in line with a Bloomberg report that stated the new Switch model would potentially replace the original Switch model eventually.
Getting a Nintendo Switch OLED model is undoubtedly going to be hard for fans, as is evident with the recent shortages surrounding PS5 and Xbox Series X. The original Switch sold like hot cakes on release, but shortages still being in effect across a number of regions will make this OLED model even harder to find. Thus, there's going to be even more demand for the Nintendo Switch OLED model at least for the foreseeable future.
The Nintendo Switch OLED model releases on October 8, 2021.
Post a Comment