Nintendo Switch 2 has just got its first teardown — here's what we learned
Today's the day many a gamer has been waiting for. The Nintendo Switch 2 has officially been released, meaning everyone that was lucky enough to pre-order the console should be receiving it.
But while most people will be off playing Mario Kart World, others are diving into the Switch 2 to see what the console is made of — literally. The first teardown of the console has made its way online courtesy of ProModding and it's an interesting watch.
This is able to show us exactly what's inside the Switch 2's interior and how the console has been put together. While it doesn't delve into specifics like repairability, there are some insights to be gleaned from the teardown.
Right at the very end of the video ProModding notes a few key details about the phone. One of the most important is that the screen has the same film as the Switch OLED, and it's already been widely reported that you should not remove this. Not if you want the screen to actually work in handheld mode.
The Joy-Cons also sit tighter than they do on the original Switch, but they can still be wobbled slightly. The thermal paste is also the same as that on the original console, which ProModding notes means that the gray paste will have dried out in around a year and a half.
The Verge notes that people have replaced the thermal paste on their original Switch consoles for better performance, and that may be something that the more intrepid Switch 2 owners start doing in the near future — after the warranties have already expired.
Finally the YouTuber describes the Switch 2's rear kickstand as "obviously too flimsy."
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Apparently moving it from only a single edge means putting the stand at "high risk" of breaking. So be careful if you plan on using the console in tabletop mode.
No doubt this is the first of many teardowns of the console, and it's likely that we'll see a lot more analysis on how the Switch 2 (and Joy-Cons) is built over the coming days.
Needless to say, in light of this quick analysis, and iFixit retroactively changing the Switch 1's repairability to 4/10, you may want to be very careful with your new purchase. Especially since it may not be easy to get a new one.
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Tom's Guide
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I tried playing Mario Kart World with this racing wheel for the original Switch — and it works like a charm on Switch 2
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Tom's Guide
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Yahoo
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Hackers discover Nintendo Switch 2 exploit one day after launch — minor hack allows running custom code on top of OS
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Some enterprising hackers have already discovered an exploit on the just-launched Nintendo Switch 2. Bluesky user David Buchanan was the first to show off the exploit, where he apparently discovered a weakness in the console's shared library. This vulnerability, called a userland Return-Oriented Programming exploit, allows Buchanan to manipulate a program by overwriting its return address to another piece of code. When chained together, this can force the system to work in an unintended manner — in this case, display custom checkerboard graphics. Since this is only a userland exploit, it only runs on the user level and does not affect the Switch 2's kernel, nor does it give you root access to the device. Buchanan said that this has no practical purpose, meaning this won't jailbreak the console and allow users to modify it in unintended ways. They even admitted that they can't prove that they're running an exploit instead of just playing a YouTube video, although other developers and modders have confirmed that the exploit does exist. The Japanese gaming giant is known for proactively protecting its intellectual property rights. It has gotten to the point that the company said it may brick your console if you use it to modify Nintendo Account Services, and the Switch 2 user agreement is pretty firm about not modifying software. Since the Switch 2 has just been released, it will likely take weeks, months, or even years before someone discovers a way to defeat the company's built-in protections on the handheld. If and when someone finally jailbreaks the Nintendo Switch 2 and creates a custom homebrew OS, we can then see how Nintendo will react. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
