Nintendo Switch 2: 5 biggest rumored changes

Rumors have long swirled about the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo’s highly anticipated follow-up to the Nintendo Switch. The Mario Maker has promised to reveal new hardware by the end of its fiscal year in March 2025, but exactly how the Switch successor will improve on the original remains the subject of speculation.

Thankfully, leakers have been providing a steady diet of new rumors, painting a pretty clear picture of what upgrades to expect with the Switch 2. As much as we love the original Nintendo Switch here at Tom’s Guide, in the eight years since its launch, it’s seriously showing its age, and we’re eager to see Nintendo revamp some of the console’s biggest pain points.

That’s why we’ve rounded up the biggest rumored upgrades headed for Nintendo’s next-gen console. From better Joy-Cons to improved storage, the Big N seems to have a lot in store for the Switch 2, though be sure to take all of this with a grain of salt for now until more details are confirmed.

Design overhaul

Several legitimate-looking leaks of the Nintendo Switch 2’s final design have surfaced in recent weeks, painting a picture of a console that’s both larger and taller than the Nintendo Switch OLED while retaining the same thickness. Most recently, the device skin and customization company Dbrand published a 360-degree mockup of its “Killswitch 2” case for the new system, which gives us our best look yet at the Switch 2’s dimensions.

Based on the case, the Switch 2 measures in at 270 x 116 x 14mm. That’s a bit chunkier than the OLED’s 242 x 102 x 13.9mm, but still relatively tiny compared to leading handheld PCs like Valve’s Steam Deck (298 x 117 x 49mm) or the Asus ROG Ally (280 x 111 x 21.2-32.4mm). For a better idea of what that could look like, the SwitchUp YouTube channel published a 3D-printed mockup of the Switch 2 based on the same info provided by a third-party case maker.

As for other design changes, the Switch 2 is tipped to upgrade to an 8-inch display from the 6.2-inch and 7-inch screens found on the original and OLED models, respectively. Nintendo also seems to have added a second USB-C port on top of the console. In theory, that could indicate the Switch sequel supports a second screen of some kind. At the very least, you’ll finally be able to charge it while it’s in tabletop mode, which blocks the sole charging port on the bottom of the console.

More powerful specs

The Switch 2 could be Nintendo’s beefiest console yet, as much as three times more powerful than the original Switch, if rumors prove true. A leak back in May claimed the Switch 2 will have 12GB of RAM, up from 4GB on the current Switch models, and feature an NVIDIA Tegra 239 SoC. It’s expected to support NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction, resulting in substantially sharper visuals than what the Switch is capable of.

However, more recent leaks suggest the Switch 2 may not be as next-gen a console as we’ve hoped. a Switch 2 spec sheet leak claims it’ll pack an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 10 streaming multiprocessors (SMs), 8GB of RAM and just 64GB of eMMC storage. While still a marked upgrade over the current Switch models, it’d still be left in the dust by other current-gen consoles like the PS5 or Xbox Series X. The bigger screen might also be a downgrade, with a recent VGC report claiming the Switch 2 will stick with an LCD panel instead of an OLED one to keep costs down.

At one point, rumors were swirling about the Switch 2’s dock housing a co-processor to boost performance while playing the console docked, but we haven’t heard much on that end in months. The same goes for the Switch 2’s rumored capability of supporting 4K gaming while docked.

Upgraded storage

The original Switch launched with just 32GB of storage in 2017 before Nintendo doubled it to 64GB with the Switch OLED in 2021. While an improvement, modern games are notorious for their huge file sizes, and though the best Switch games are tiny by comparison to new releases on rival consoles, it’s still not a ton of space to work with.

Thankfully, Nintendo seems primed to get ahead of that problem with its next console. The Switch 2 is tipped to pack 512GB of onboard storage — plenty of room to house all your games without having to juggle your files between the console and the cloud.

Backward compatibility

Nintendo has confirmed scarce few details about the Switch 2, but there’s one thing we know for sure: You’ll be able to play Switch games on it. The Mario maker announced at its November investor briefing that its Switch successor will be backward compatible with existing Switch software.

When the Switch launched, it didn’t support Wii U games for obvious reasons. But given that the Wii U was backward compatible with its predecessor, the Wii, odds were high that Nintendo would do the same with the Switch 2 and Switch. Still, official confirmation is good news for Switch users who have built up a sprawling library of games in the console’s eight-year-long life cycle. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has also suggested users will be able to transfer over their existing Nintendo Account between consoles, making for an even smoother transition.

Revamped magnetic Joy-Cons

Nintendo’s console makeover extends to the Joy-Con controllers themselves too, it seems. Leaked mock-ups suggest the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons will be rounder and bigger, making them more comfortable to hold for long periods.

Other rumored upgrades include redesigned SR and SL buttons, an auxiliary button on the right controller, a different LED placement, and most interestingly, a magnetic component connecting the controllers to the Switch 2. This would be a significant change from the rail system used on the first-generation Switch.

The downside with that is it likely means the Joy-Cons wouldn’t be compatible with the Switch 2. Given how expensive back-up Joy-Cons can be, that would be a disappointing development. And there’s no word on how that would impact certain Switch accessories like the Ring Fit Adventure and external controllers.

More from Tom’s Guide