The recent surprise announcement of the new Nintendo Switch (OLED model), due for release on 8 October, has left no one indifferent due to past rumours of an imminent announcement of a Switch with improved performance that would allow video output in up to 4K.
While it has already been confirmed that this new hardware does not include significant improvements in RAM, CPU or GPU, some analysts insist that a 4K Nintendo Switch model is currently in development by the Japanese company.
Serkan Toto, an analyst consulted by Bloomberg and supported by other Bloomberg analysts such as Matthew Kanterman and Nathan Naidu, has this to say on the matter:
This new Nintendo Switch model seems to be a stopgap rather than an actual upgrade. It may be an interim upgrade until the release of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, so that the component shortage will be fixed by then next year.
However, it’s worth remembering that many analysts were already claiming a few weeks ago that a Nintendo Switch “Pro” would be announced soon, something that ultimately didn’t happen as they claimed, so these statements should be taken as just another opinion. Remember that one journalist who backed up these rumours has already expressed his bewilderment. He is waiting for his sources to confirm whether this new OLED model is the same as the previous rumours or whether there are two different models (one OLED model officially announced and the other supposedly on the way).
Many fans have expressed their disagreement and anger with Serkan Toto and Bloomberg in general, as the news outlet is not clear on what has happened to the Switch “Pro” rumours they shared and Nintendo has not mentioned that there is a shortage in production. They also add that the headline with which they have announced this new model is rather misleading: “Nintendo unveils a $350 Switch with a screen that still lags behind its rivals”.
