15-05-2025
Nintendo Switch 2 specs revealed: What's powering the next gen gaming handheld?
Last month, Nintendo announced the Switch 2, its newest handheld gaming console. Set to hit shelves on June 5 this year, the upcoming console packs in a much more powerful chipset, has a bigger screen and an extra USB-C port. Recently, Nintendo unveiled the technical specifications for the Switch 2, but the official details are a bit vague.
However, a new report by Eurogamer gives us a deeper look into what's powering Nintendo's new console. According to the Switch 2's official page, the upcoming console is said to be powered by a 'custom processor made by NVIDIA', but the publication suggests that Nintendo is going with an octa-core ARM Cortex A78C that has a max clock speed of 1.7GHz.
Two of the eight cores are reserved for the system, which means developers will have access to only six cores. As for the GPU, Nintendo seems to be using an Nvidia GPU based on the Maxwell architecture, which powers the RTX 30 series cards. Like the CPU, some of the GPU resources are also reserved by the system.
Nintendo has already confirmed Switch 2 also supports hardware backed ray tracing as well as DLSS, Nvidia's AI powered upscaling algorithm. On the memory front, the handheld sports 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of storage. All of this is powered by a 5,220mAh battery which the company says will last up to 6.5 hours.
To give you a quick recap, Nintendo revealed last month that the Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch LCD screen with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR support and comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot that lets you expand the storage up to 2TB. The Nintendo Switch 2 is priced at $449.99 and comes with grip and straps for the new controller, a high speed HDMI cable, charging adapter and a USB-C cable.
