Rumors about a Nintendo Switch Pro mid-generation console upgrade began to circulate in early 2020, with the initial information leak pointing to a proprietary chip based on NVIDIA’s Volta architecture. According to Bloomberg, the Nintendo Switch Pro could support 4K resolution and have significantly enhanced computing capacity later in 2020.
Improved handheld mode and NVIDIA DLSS compatibility were mentioned in 2021, as well as the prospect of upgrading the resolution and performance of older games, a larger dock with an Ethernet port and two USB 3.0 ports, and so on. Nintendo, on the other hand, made no statements, leaving fans to speculate for quite some time.
A Chinese Switch accessories producer revived hopes for a Nintendo Switch Pro in 2022, but that, too, did not materialise.
John Linneman claimed in the most recent episode of the Digital Foundry podcast that the Switch Pro was a legitimate project. However, Nintendo finally opted not to release the console.
I think at one point internally, from what I can understand from talking to different developers, is that there was some sort of mid-generation Switch update planned at one point, and that seems to be no longer happening. And thus, it’s pretty clear that whatever they do next is going to be the actual next-generation hardware.
He then added that Nintendo would instead make a true Switch replacement, possibly for a 2024 date rather than 2023, albeit this is only a guess. This is consistent with recent speculations of an NVIDIA Tegra239 SoC with an eight-core CPU, NVIDIA DLSS, and ray tracing capabilities, indicating a Nintendo Switch 2 rather than a Switch Pro.
However, this means that the updated Switch will not be launched alongside The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is presently scheduled for May 12th, 2023. Nintendo fans were anticipating for a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which debuted in March 2017 as a cross-generation title on the Nintendo WiiU and Nintendo Switch.
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