Back in March 2019, there was a rumour that Nintendo would be releasing two new models of the Switch, one a premium upgraded version, the other a cheaper successor to the 3DS. We certainly got the latter with the Switch Lite, and Bloomberg is now reporting that the former is still on track, due in 2021.
https://kotaku.com/report-nintendo-is-releasing-two-new-switch-models-1833535450
The report says this will be an āupgraded model of its Switch consoleā, and while it doesnāt go into specifics (particularly when it comes to specs, size or price) it adds, āThe Kyoto-based company has looked into including more computing power and 4K high-definition graphics.ā
Itās the second time this week an industry outlet has reported this news, following a similar story in Taiwanās Economic Daily News
On the one hand, this would be…weird? Chasing the high end of the market isnāt very Nintendo, and I donāt think anyone is clamouring to play Switch games in 4K, at least not enough to need a whole new console for it.
Then again, creating different models of hardware with different abilities is also very Nintendo, something the company has not just already done on the Switch, but also on everything from the DS (the DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL) to the Wii (ditching GameCube support and hardware ports) to the 3DS (the 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL, and 2DS).
And with both the PS5 and Xbox Series X due soon, maybe they feel a 4K upgrade and performance boost is just what the Switch needs to stay on top for a few more years.
