Over the past year, Nintendo has been faced with plenty of hardware rumors and speculation, especially as the current Switch model enters it's fourth year of life, typically the halfway point for most system. So far, Nintendo has been able to side-step and avoid discussing any hardware revisions, though it hasn't stopped the public from theorizing what a potential Switch Pro could look like. After all the rumors, Nintendo has finally revealed a new Switch model, though it likely isn't what most people expected.
Alongside a new trailer, Nintendo officially revealed the Nintendo Switch OLED Model, which arrives on October 8 for $349.99. While the console behaves similarly to the original model, it comes with a number of upgrades including 64 GB of internal storage to help digital game fans, enhanced audio, as well as a brand new wider dock with wired LAN support. However, the biggest feature that comes with this new Switch model is arguably the brand new OLED screen.
While the console's overall size remains the same, the OLED screen is slightly larger at 7 inches compared to the original's 6.2 inch screen. However, while the OLED will be able to give players an improved picture contrast, it remains locked at 1280x720 resolution. With all the rumors indicating the Switch Pro would not only have better hardware components as well as providing true 4K resolutions, this Switch model obviously falls well short.
The other major component is battery life, something which the newer Switch versions managed to improve from the original 2017 launch version. Thankfully, even with all of the enhancements including the more powerful OLED screen, this latest Switch model continues that standard by offering players an estimated 4.5-9 hours of battery life. For those players who will be looking to upgrade, Nintendo has also made sure to keep all current accessories compatible, so players won't have to buy different versions of Joy-Cons, Switch docks, or other peripherals.
For many fans, the question now becomes whether or not this is the final hardware revision from Nintendo. Considering all of the rumored Switch Pro features missing from this latest model, some have begun to wonder if a true technologically advanced Pro model is still coming next year, or if Nintendo is now looking to move on to a true next successor of the Switch in a few years time. For now, it appears that come October, players will have a variety of options to pick from as this OLED model doesn't appear to be phasing out any previous version, simply adding another to the growing Switch family of products.