New Switch Models To Reportedly Benefit From Sharp's Energy Efficient IGZO Displays

Switch Pro for next year and thank you.

I don't see the need for a PRO version for a few years yet - at least not until PS5 and the next XBOX have released. A Switch upgrade would be swept under the rug by two new more powerful machines. 2021 onwards is when I'd expect a PRO.

@Zuljaras The correct name is "Super NEW Nintendo 3DSWiitch-i Game Boy Cube 64 Color U Advance XL Entertainment System SP"

Agree - they will wait for the new beasts to come out before they unleash S2. It'll have a 4K screen, surround sound and Joy Cons that separate into four pieces allowing multiplayer straight out of the box.

Its just weird how the switch lite is said to have all those energy saving upgrades but still the battery life isn’t as great as the new standard model?

@Matthew010 I kind of feel the same as you but will probably crack and end buying a pro! 😅

I'm just not convinced there is a pro in the foreseeable future. Sure, I would love one but if the current Switch is 280 quid with no signs of slowing down, how much would a more powerful one be? And can they keep the form factor or would it be like an Atari Lynx? Nintendo aren't really the ones for going after that 'elite' market.

@molliolli182 Switch Lite has 37% more battery life and the battery itself has a lower capacity because it's smaller so the energy saving is significant and due to the newer chip mostly (the screens are almost the same size).

I'm not a fan of them being silent about the "revision" of the switch. I thought about it a lot and I'm not getting the newer model, I'd rather go for the lite. Also, since the lite is already available for preorder I doubt that they will have those newer screens. I read somewhere that sharp hasn't disclosed which models will have the igzo screen

@SonOfVon I was thinking the same. Probably we will have to wait until someone reliable confirms that the Lite is using those Sharp indium gallium zinc oxide screens.

@molliolli182 I’m pretty sure they made the battery smaller in the Lite for no apparent reason. Maybe so they can fit it into the smaller casing?

I just hope the pro comes with glass in front of the LCD.
Glass screen protectors are cheap and only take a few minutes, but they are essential. That screen scratches if you look at it funny.

Not getting it until it's confirmed the joysticks don't have drifting issues especially considering they are not detachable

@StevenG The plastic is prone to scratches and is not completely transparent so I hope Nintendo stops using it. Glass can be resistant if it's tempered or whatever technology they want to apply so no excuses unless they want to be cheap and sell expensive like they have been doing lately.

@smithpa01 I hope so, otherwise Nintendo will be replacing all Switch Lite units in 6 months and will be forced to not charge for that because of the consumers' rights, the same reason why they had to stop charging consumers for repairing the joy-cons which was a real shame.

I don't what Sharp's igzo screens look like, but this news just reminds me how much I'd love an OLED screen on a Switch Pro. They probably have even better OLED screens these days than my Vita has, and it looks awesome with rich colors and a dark black.

@molliolli182 That would be because they most likely also made the battery smaller to fit in inside

I don't think any of this makes that much of a difference so I'll just stick with my old Switch.

@Filth_Element To be fair, so will I. I'm desperately trying to concince myself not to get a Lite because I play mostly docked, but that turquoise is so tempting.

@Rhaoulos & Knuckles

@StevenG I can see why Nintendo don't go with glass screens. Kids drop things and glass crack easily. Can see them definitely sticking with plastic.

@60frames-please hell no! OLED has burn in plus would mean lower battery life.

OLED is overrated and not great for gaming.

@Zuljaras
There is always a newer version on the horizont... this was so with mp3 players, cameras, mobile phones, autos... etc.
That is how this world functions... I see nothing bad in an improved Switch and revised tec. Why shold I feel "cheated"? I had a lot a fun with my switch the last 2 years and if I really would like to "upgrade" I could buy a new and sell my old. I think with a loss of around 50€ I could get a new model....

@MasterJay @CreepyNoodles @BlueOcean ah okay the battery is smaller. It really is a shame because a portable only device would benefit having more battery life.

@molliolli182 Yeah but I watched a Switch tear-down and the battery takes around half the available space so I think in this case they could not fit the same battery in the smaller case.

@CreepyNoodles Nintendo always cheaps on Batteries, the battery in the New 2DS XL was the worst of the 3DS line, and it was the latest model!

Yeah I'm good with my current one, unless we some really awesome unique normal system for a game I love, or there's a pro i'll be sticking with my current one. That extra battery life would be nice, but I don't use mine in handheld mode enough to even warrant the upgrade.

Anything that improves a device's battery life is fine by me.

@BlueOcean Makes sense. I wonder if battery size is the reason for the lite not being even smaller? Because I might have thought about it if it was the size of a vita for example. But as it’s not really small enough to be seriously carried with me I’ll wait for a possible switch pro. If Nintendo does not release a pro model then I might get the new standard and sell my current.

@Zuljaras That's the risk one runs when buying a new console later in its life, a revision or new model is likely to be right around the corner.

@kobashi100 Kids will scratch the display into uselessness long before they crack it.

So the new more energy efficient Switches in the new red box, still uses old display tech or does it utilizes the one with igzo technology?

@kobashi100 Having a Vita I couldn't disagree more about OLED. Colours alone make its games stand out.

I think a newer, more powerful switch will come at some point - but it'll have to have full backwards compatibility and will be driven by the sales of the machine as it is.

Once that slows down, version 2 will be whacked together with a spec that matches a favourable market margin for nintendo.

It's like that every time.

All I want to know is if it has better sunlight performance. I'm buying if it does....

@BlueOcean Glass would be nice, but I can't see them doing it. More brittle and impact damage prone, heavier, more expensive. Nintendo does focus a lot on drop test versus scratch test. Not necessarily the wrong approach for their products.

@Anti-Matter Et tu?

@Rubbercookie never said the colours don't pop. I have an original vita. OLED has a burn in problem which cannot be denied.

@kobashi100 That was many years ago, modern OLED panels don't have burn issues anymore. Moreover, they now use white diodes with light filters because white diodes have a longer lifespan. OLED panels are objectively better (more efficient and much better colour reproduction and contrast) but more expensive and that's why not all smartphones, tables and TVs use it. For Switch it would be great because it's a hybrid console (Lite is hand-held only) that people take outside. The original Switch has a LCD screen and on top of that the panel is low-quality.

@NEStalgia Screen glass doesn't break that easily if the correct manufacture process is performed. There are many procedures and not all of them are expensive. It's just Nintendo being cheap with plastic.

@Sean161 GB/GBC had a problem that they were easiest to see in bright light but impossible to see in low light - they weren't light emitting, they were reflective. Bright screens tend to take a lot more power, and I realize Nintendo doesn't get $1000 price points like OLED phones to play with, but yeah, I think the screens should do a lot better (maybe the new one does?)

@BlueOcean sure, but we don't know the particular price point, design considerations, and reasons beyond cost (or cost mitigation) for the choice. Sony did the same with Vita (both revisions.)

@kobashi100 ongoing tests shows oled burn-in not an issue when gaming.

oled is the best display for anything but constant cnn and web browsing. highly underrated due to misinformation from people like you (who knows nothing about oleds as it seems)

@Zuljaras A bunch of moaners they are. We live in a society that has always evolved and improved.

We have known since day 0, Switch was eventually going to be improved and expanded in someway. Yet Nintendo fans refused to agree despite nearly every Nintendo system recieving some form of makeover, bar Wii U, which was an experiment and precursor for Switch.

@arty77 Same with Plasma technology. The inital, very early forms of it used in airports etc had screen burn in, but these kinks were corrected.

Even now despite UHD and HDR the best 1080P Plasma sets still destroy LCD with motion, detail handling, colour and black levels.

Plasma was essentially destroyed by the manufacturers due to cost and the profitability of LCD. Looks like the same may happen with OLED which is only a matter of time before it will take over Plasma's unquestionable status as the best.

Switch Lite>Switch. Don't @ me

@Jimmy_G_Buckets OK but > means larger.

@Matthew010 nintendo should be aggressive with the switch pro. a powerful switch pro released before xbox two and ps5 could encourage buyers to see how much more theyre getting if they go with switch instead... make the non-hybrid competition look out of date by comparison.

@BlueOcean well in math yeah but you know what I meant 😛The Switch Lite is much more attractive to me as a customer than the Switch.

@Matthew010
New Xbox is Holiday 2020. A little over a year.
I'd like Nintendo to have a more powerful Switch around that time, myself, and it could happen, but 2021 seems plausible. Have a feeling Nintendo will be riding a feel-good wave of Switch Lite sales and not see the need to compete directly with the powerhouses... but I still find it hard to believe they'd let the power gap go into Holiday 2022...

@Rhaoulos You forgot 'micro'

I knew this would have a better screen,day one for me.

@MARATXXX,

I wonder how long people on here and other forums are going to cling onto the idea Nintendo will get into the power race again?..when it has never worked for them in the past,in fact Nintendo had it's best selling generation with the Wii and DS,both very low powered consoles.

@johnvboy it's not about the "power" race, exactly. it's about the race between relevance and irrelevance. if nintendo can put out an appealing, somewhat more powerful "switch pro" or "switch 2", that is backwards compatible and is playing more contemporary games, then i think more gamers will start looking at the switch as more than just a secondary console, but a more appealing, more relevant console, period.

@MARATXXX,

People will look at the console as a secondary option because it offers something different,not because it's exactly the same,and when Nintendo release an updated model it will be nowhere near as powerful as people on here are expecting..but it does not need to be.

@aaronsullivan 2021 definitely seems the most likely bet - if there are revisions or new models ever 2 years or so, Nintendo's hopes of a 7 to 10 year life cycle start to look more likely.

@Jimmy_G_Buckets Yes I know. To be honest, I think that the Switch Lite is better than the original too for the simple fact that it succeeds at one thing instead of being halfway through (a hybrid home console-handheld). Also, the D-pad.

Are people still actually expecting a Switch Pro? It seems pretty apparent to me those rumors were just misinterpretations of the new updated Switch.

@thatawesomedude Yeah, the "Pro" was clearly a misinterpretation of the faster, more efficient chip.

I'm sorry, but every time I see an NL article that suggests an upcoming Pro model is still reasonable to expect, this site loses more and more credibility to me. Either the staff are ignorant on the matter, or they're just pandering for clicks.

@liveswired To be fair, you're convieniently forgeting N64 and GameCube which didn't get revisions either (unless you count later GameCubes lacking the component port a revision). With that in mind, only about half Nintendo's consoles have had them.

Still not gonna talk me into the Switch Lite.

A Switch Plus/Pro/Deluxe would get my attention though.

I do hope that, if they give us an actual upgrade, it will still be compatible with existing Joycon, or I'm gonna feel real stupid.

@Matthew010 Well, there's actually still hope in that department. Don't forget that Nintendo also claimed the NES JoyCons were only for games in the NES app, that the 3DS didn't support SDHC cards, and that the Switch dock has three USB 2.0 ports (when the actual physical hardware contains two 2.0, and one 3.0 that is just currently limited to 2.0 useage by the current firmware). With that said, there's still a decent chance that the Lite hardware will still be capable of TV output. Especially if my understanding of how the Switch chipsets works is correct. Anyone more knowledgeable can feel free to correct me, but I'm under the impression that the output feature is an integrated part of the hardware and not something that could just be left out. If so, the Lite would still be capable of TV output unless Nintendo were to specifically block it via firmware (even so, a future update could enable it). I'm thinking, the system may very well still output if you have the capable connection hardware, but while in TV mode the built-in JoyCons won't work, forcing the use of separate wireless ones (which are expensive, and can't even be charged by the Lite). So it would be far less complicated on Nintendo's part to just market the thing as only being for handheld mode... and the more technically inclined users will quickly figure it out it's not an actual limitation-- just like with the 3DS and SDHC compatibility. But it's just a theory, so only time will tell for sure.

Heh, reminds me they still claim I can't put a 256GB SD card into my 3DS. Underestimating the FAT format.

@molliolli182 It's meant to be a budget machine, not superior to the main model. I wouldn't expect a 2DS to have a better battery than a new 3ds, but making some cheap improvements over the first model makes sense. The lite model isn't meant to replace a normal one in any way; it just happens to have newer tech in it which allows for slightly better battery life.

@khululy That will be for the portable only version. You need to add "Micro Lite Pocket" at the end.

lots of info everyday about the Switch Lite, any news about the updated Switch ?

Seems to me that this updated Switch isnt necessary if you have one and are picking up a lite for on the go. Just a nice quality of life improvement for new Switch buyers rather than a real upgrade

The Wii U pad had an upgradable battery be nice if switch had that option for existing owners.

@thatawesomedude N64 did get later revisions, IIRC their chipsets don't support RGB video output. I believe they came out with the translucent shells. And yeah, those Game Cubes do count.

Even GBCs, I've opened up a few and found different branded parts inside.

I don't think Virtual Boy ever got a revision, though

@thatawesomedude Actually the N64 did get a revision, and it was a quiet revision similar to this new Switch model. The original N64 shipped with a different motherboard than the latest model (in North America, the original had NUS-CPU-03 motherboard while the last N64 in production had the newer more efficient NUS-CPU-09 motherboard. There wasn't really a difference besides the amount of power that was consumed (the heatsink blocks were removed from the latest N64 model to improve electric efficiency).

This is in addition to what @Asaki just said.

Plus, we can count the "memory expansion pack" that was released for games like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask as a technical "revision" even though it didn't require the purchase of an upgraded console (if we're splitting hairs).

@Zuljaras

If you informed yourself it was 99% clear that some updated versions /revisions would come... Maybe you buy a switch full price and next week is a big sale...
My sister was im the position to buy her switch in june or wait... she just wanted to play now... if it is for the battery -by a 20€ power bank and stop whining... is easy or not?

@Zuljaras

I bought an anker powerbank for 20 and it charges my swicht untill 3 times even while playing skyrim or zelda it charges slwoly

@nintendork64 @Asaki Well your idea of revisions apparently differ from mine. Internal part differations are so common, that I can't justify counting silent revisions as true revisions... and counting an add-on like the Expansion Pak is an even bigger stretch.

@Rubbercookie That's just Nintendo's way of simplifying things for the less technically inclined. Since proper formatting requires more technical knowledge, it's just safer to not to acknowledge compatibility. The more technically savvy types will quickly figure it out their own, and Nintendo's technical support won't be flooded with calls from clueless parents angry that it's so complicated.

@FTPinkRabbit Yes I know the two models are supposed to co-exist. But still I think if one of the models should have the best battery life it should be the portable only. I understand it’s not an easy task when they need to shrink down stuff, keep costs down and still try to maintain the screen resolution, clarity and brightness. But if we see the lite as a stripped down, lower end, budget model then the battery life stuff makes more sense. I just personally have seen the lite as an equal but just portable only.

@Zuljaras The next new switch with any true upgrades will be a next gen Switch, not sure why people think anything special is coming other than Switch 2. I expect by 2021 we will know everything about it.

@thatawesomedude Huh, that does make a whole lot of sense.

@CarpeDiem IGZO technology if used on LCD is not better than OLED. If used on LCD, IGZO is the same as other LCD screens but more efficient and with a longer lifespan. Sharp, the company that will supply Nintendo, started manufacturing these panels in 2012 for LCD and OLED screens. Nintendo probably chose the IGZO-LCD option for being cheaper. If Lite includes IGZO technology or not we won't know until it launches and someone investigates.

@CarpeDiem I am not sure but I'm curious too! Nintendo might use those screens for Lite and future hardware revisions. Can't wait to see a technical review of the Lite.

@thatawesomedude The N64 did feature internal revisions, one of the reasons Stop and Swap on Rare games was given the boot, also removal of a ram slot. GCN also did, in that they cut digital out though lol.

I don't think there has ever been an investigation into how the redesigns affect performance, in the N64's case, many games run with unlocked framerates - you would imagine there would be at the very least minor gains, most gamers never really noticed in the 90s.

I just picked up a “new” Mariko chip switch after loving my original for over two years and I have to say it is noticeably better in every way and it is a tremendous amount better in several ways! I Love my Nintendo Switch!! It is worth buying the revision! Several of My Games including Blood Stained and Mortal Kombat 11 run even better on my “new” switch. It is much more than a simple battery upgrade. That is misleading! Enjoy Switch Gaming everyone!! -Patrick 😊👍🏻 🎮