Posted in: Games, Nintendo, Video Games | Tagged: nintendo, nintendo switch, Nintendo Switch Pro

Rumor: Nintendo Releasing a New Model of the Nintendo Switch

Rumors of an updated version of the Nintendo Switch have been swirling since the Switch first hit shelves last March. However, the Switch hacking community is still looking for evidence of a version of the hybrid console with updated hardware. The latest theory comes from a series of file folders added to Switch firmware update 5.0, which includes a configuration for the T214 (Tegra 214) CPU. Switch hardware enthusiasts will point out at this point that the Switch currently uses the T210 CPU.

According to a report by GameRant:

The Nintendo Switch hacking and development community has begun to dig into the code of the new firmware and they have made an interesting discovery. On SwitchBrew, a community-run Wikipedia page based on Switch homebrew development, it has been noted that in firmware 5.0, a new folder "a" was added, in addition to the existing "nx" folder, containing a separate "bct" and "package1." Both of these seem encrypted/meant for the new "Mariko" hardware that support was added for." Firmware 5.0 also adds a configuration for the T214 (Tegra 214) central processing unit (CPU), although the Nintendo Switch currently uses the Tegra 210 CPU.

The community has taken this as evidence that Nintendo is planning a hardware revision for the Nintendo Switch that will use the Tegra 214 CPU instead of the Tegra 210 and that the Tegra 210 will be phased out altogether. The current system on a chip used for the Nintendo Switch includes a vulnerability which makes the console vulnerable to hacks and this vulnerability will remain in all future versions of the Switch that uses the same system on a chip. By switching to another CPU, Nintendo can solve the problem.

While this is far from hard evidence that we're getting a version of the Switch with increased performance, its not like the concept doesn't have some very real grounding in reality. Updated versions of consoles have been a thing for at least four generations of home consoles.

And of course, the T214 is much less vulnerable to hacks, which makes switching to a better CPU an even better sell for Nintendo.

So we might see a Nintendo Switch Pro console get announced sometime in the coming months. After all, E3 is just around the corner.

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