As the Nintendo Switch OLED arrives next Friday, some users have already managed to get their hands on the console and have even been able to take it apart. Nintendo has changed some aspects of it, including its Dock.
The previous months, the leaks have been linked on a potential Nintendo Switch Pro compatible 4K, and these would not ultimately be completely wrong. Indeed, in addition to the OLED screen, new speakers and the Ethernet port, Nintendo has made important changes to the dock of its console.
According to YouTuber Nintendo Prime, who was able to disassemble the console, Nintendo secretly changed the HDMI port of its console. While the first generation used an HDMI 1.4, limited to 1080p, this new OLED model comes with an HDMI 2.0 port and cable, which can therefore broadcast a stream in 4K HDR and 60 FPS. This therefore confirms the information from the @OatmealDome leaker, who had spotted in the source code of an update a mention of a 4K dock for the new Switch.
Nintendo Switch is not powerful enough to stream in 4K
Although the new OLED Switch is theoretically capable of streaming a stream in 4K thanks to the new dock, the console still uses the same Tegra X1 chip as the classic Switch. The latter is unfortunately not able to upscale an image in 4K and is not compatible with Nvidia’s DLSS technology, which would have been necessary to allow it to display games in a higher definition.
Any hope of Nintendo offering games in 4K on its OLED Switch therefore seems to have been dashed. However, as Bloomberg had discovered, 11 studios would already have access to 4K development kits, which suggests that Nintendo still intends to unveil a new Switch Pro model in 2022 or 2023. As the Switch OLED dock is compatible 4K, it is by the way It’s not impossible that Nintendo will reuse this same dock on its next generation of console.
At any rate, the new Nintendo Switch OLED arrives on Friday for the first customers, while others may have to wait several weeks before receiving it. Indeed, the console is already a victim of its success in countries like Japan, a shortage is to be expected in the coming months.