Nintendo is set to unveil its next-generation console in 2024, and not a "Switch Pro" model rumored for release this year.
Ampere Analysis senior gaming industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls made his forecast in a Games Industry.Biz article, asserting that he does not even expect Nintendo to release the supposed "Switch Pro" console at all.
Next-Gen Nintendo Console to Support Full 4K Resolution Support?
Harding-Rolls said he is "not expecting a Switch Pro in 2022," although he stressed that a "next-gen Nintendo console" in their forecasts for late 2024. He did not elaborate on the features that would come with the new Switch console, although many have speculated it would offer the much-desired 4K resolution or enhanced hardware power.
Harding-Rolls' claims also do not confirm any official Nintendo plans, but his accurate predictions in the past could offer some credibility to his current forecasts.
Read also: Nintendo Building Next-Gen Gaming Console: New Integrated Hardware-Software System Teased
Nintendo rolled out its new Switch OLED model last year, offering a larger seven-inch OLED screen and other features, such as enhanced audio, a new dock, and a wide adjustable stand.
But after its release, it had no support for full 4K resolution support nor upgraded hardware that were widely reported in media, disappointing avid Switch gamers. Even if the Switch OLED had similar hardware with the 2019 Switch, its dock allows native 4K 60 fps video output. However, the Switch OLED's Tegra X1 system-on-a-chip (SoC) could not achieve native 4K gaming without Nvidia's supercomputers.
Respected outlet Bloomberg had claimed that Nintendo provided software toolkits featuring support for 4K graphics to at least 11 gaming firms. Nintendo denied the claims, Video Games Chronicle reported.
Nvidia Orin-based Tegra SoC to Power Upcoming Nintendo Console
For the 2024 Nintendo console, fans expect that 4K support will be a integral part of the system given that it may kickstart a new generation of gaming units, and not a mere extension or improvement of the current Switch hardware platform. TweakTown.com suggested that the supposedly upcoming 4K Switch will run on Nvidia's new eight-nanometer Orin-based Tegra system-on-a-chip (SoC) in the chip company's DRIVE autonomous vehicle system.
Nintendo had been pouring investments into research and development of machine learning and deep learning since 2019, which is at the core of Nvidia's next-generation Tegra and RTX platforms.
It is also rumored that the next Switch console will utilize deep learning super sampling (DLSS) to upgrade resolution and enhance frame rates. Nvidia has made DLSS available in the ARM-based chips that run the Nintendo Switch.
While these claims fall merely on speculation, what was explicitly confirmed by Nintendo officials was that there is indeed a new console in the works to succeed the Switch. No official time frame or release dates were divulged, or if at all, kept vague. The Nintendo executives said that the current Switch is at the middle phase of its life cycle, further hinting that it should be replaced with a new console at some point in time in the future.
