New Nintendo Switch announced - Switch Lite

Hellhound105 said:
I'm just glad its not a Pro version.
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I don't understand why people keep asking for or talking about a pro version of the Switch.

We don't want a pro version, and since when does Nintendo do that? It's simply a hardware refresh we're looking for, which will come with the usual spec bump.

Even if Nintendo isn't in favour of bumping the specs when they update the design, they will have to. The Tegra chip they're using is so old that it's a PITA to manufacture. They will have to move very soon to an updated Tegra model.

So just wait for that and then buy the regular Switch.
 
Bryn said:
I don't understand why people keep asking for or talking about a pro version of the Switch.

We don't want a pro version, and since when does Nintendo do that? It's simply a hardware refresh we're looking for, which will come with the usual spec bump.

Even if Nintendo isn't in favour of bumping the specs when they update the design, they will have to. The Tegra chip they're using is so old that it's a PITA to manufacture. They will have to move very soon to an updated Tegra model.

So just wait for that and then buy the regular Switch.
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There are articles online mentioning they are in the process of filing for FCC regulations to upgrade the hardware.
The problem seems to be that the consumer won't know that they are buying an upgraded edition or not (according to the information online).
 
|tera| said:
There are articles online mentioning they are in the process of filing for FCC regulations to upgrade the hardware.
The problem seems to be that the consumer won't know that they are buying an upgraded edition or not (according to the information online).
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I don't think that's talking about a Pro Switch. It's possible they won't even give it a performance boost, just improve the thermals and some other tweaks. All consoles go through internal gen upgrades that don't change performance. It's quite a big thing to update the specs of a console because games need to be tested to support it and patched.

Bryn said:
I don't understand why people keep asking for or talking about a pro version of the Switch.

We don't want a pro version, and since when does Nintendo do that? It's simply a hardware refresh we're looking for, which will come with the usual spec bump.

Even if Nintendo isn't in favour of bumping the specs when they update the design, they will have to. The Tegra chip they're using is so old that it's a PITA to manufacture. They will have to move very soon to an updated Tegra model.

So just wait for that and then buy the regular Switch.
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Why would we not want a Pro Switch? A 1080p screen, at least double performance upgrade due to 16 or 12nm Nvidia chips better battery life - bring it on.
 
@cerebus, my knowledge is not clear here. Is a Pro Switch actually being released or not?
Online searches are vague about this.

Edit: sorry about the funky formatting of this post.
 
|tera| said:
There are articles online mentioning they are in the process of filing for FCC regulations to upgrade the hardware.
The problem seems to be that the consumer won't know that they are buying an upgraded edition or not (according to the information online).
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Nintendo has a history of confusing product iterations. The Switch may well end up the same. Nothing a little online research can't resolve, so my sympathy towards parents and kids is limited.

cerebus said:
Why would we not want a Pro Switch? A 1080p screen, at least double performance upgrade due to 16 or 12nm Nvidia chips better battery life - bring it on.
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Because you can have that without a pro Switch. The regular Switch will have to see hardware upgrades.

Nintendo does not have the option of keeping the Switch's hardware unchanged. The current Tegra chip's days are extremely numbered. A spec bump is unavoidable.
 
|tera| said:
@cerebus, my knowledge is not clear here. Is a Pro Switch actually being released or not?
Online searches are vague about this.

Edit: sorry about the funky formatting of this post.
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No news about a Pro Switch this year, actually Doug Bowser said there wouldn't be a Switch Pro this year (not that it means anything when they say that). The internal upgrade for the Switch is most likely to be the same chip that's going into the Switch Lite. I don't know if it will give a performance improvement, but it's likely that it will do but minor - in the region of 20-50%.
 
Bryn said:
Because you can have that without a pro Switch. The regular Switch will have to see hardware upgrades.

Nintendo does not have the option of keeping the Switch's hardware unchanged. The current Tegra chip's days are extremely numbered. A spec bump is unavoidable.
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But if you doubled performance and screen resolution, but didn't call it a Switch Pro, what's the difference? Effectively it would be a pro. They certainly do have the option of keeping the hardware unchanged, seeing that the current Switch lineup is going to be stellar at least up until next year, and it's selling like crazy.
 
cerebus said:
But if you doubled performance and screen resolution, but didn't call it a Switch Pro, what's the difference? Effectively it would be a pro. They certainly do have the option of keeping the hardware unchanged, seeing that the current Switch lineup is going to be stellar at least up until next year, and it's selling like crazy.
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No, they do not have the option. The largest foundries on Earth cannot produce such old tech for much longer - foundries don't exist in isolation and do need to more or less move with the times. And Nvidia has more recent Tegra SoC's ready to go - it makes no sense for them not to be used given the improved performance and energy consumption at no additional manufacturing cost.

Again, confusing product iterations is nothing new for Nintendo. More than likely they'll do nothing to the name and update the design and hardware - anyone with eyeballs should be able to see that it isn't the same thing as what went before. Considering what a potato the current Tegra X1 in the Switch is, anything mildly recent should be a decent step up.
 
Really hoping there is an emu for the Shield since they share the same hardware.
 
Bryn said:
No, they do not have the option. The largest foundries on Earth cannot produce such old tech for much longer - foundries don't exist in isolation and do need to more or less move with the times. And Nvidia has more recent Tegra SoC's ready to go - it makes no sense for them not to be used given the improved performance and energy consumption at no additional manufacturing cost.
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Yeah that seems to be why they're updating the internals of the Switch for now, most likely to a 16nm finfet SOC. But that doesn't mean it will get a major performance upgrade so it's best to limit your expectations.

In the meanwhile the games that are set to be released like Pokemon Sword and Shield and BOTW2 and Animal Crossing will sell tens of millions of current gen Switch and Switch Lite units, so Nintendo aren't feeling a lot of pressure to 'keep up with the times'.

Again, confusing product iterations is nothing new for Nintendo. More than likely they'll do nothing to the name and update the design and hardware - anyone with eyeballs should be able to see that it isn't the same thing as what went before. Considering what a potato the current Tegra X1 in the Switch is, anything mildly recent should be a decent step up.
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But when they updated the 3ds they did advertise it as a new model.

https://www.nintendo.com/3ds/features/compare/

They even made some games like Xenoblade incompatible with the older model. I think if they came out with a Switch model that had let's say 1080p screen and power equivalent to Xbox One S or PS4 levels, they will certainly brand it.

CamiKaze said:
Really hoping there is an emu for the Shield since they share the same hardware.
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Emulators need a lot of power to run, many more times than the source hardware.
 
cerebus said:
Yeah that seems to be why they're updating the internals of the Switch for now, most likely to a 16nm finfet SOC. But that doesn't mean it will get a major performance upgrade so it's best to limit your expectations.

In the meanwhile the games that are set to be released like Pokemon Sword and Shield and BOTW2 and Animal Crossing will sell tens of millions of current gen Switch and Switch Lite units, so Nintendo aren't feeling a lot of pressure to 'keep up with the times'.



But when they updated the 3ds they did advertise it as a new model.

https://www.nintendo.com/3ds/features/compare/

They even made some games like Xenoblade incompatible with the older model. I think if they came out with a Switch model that had let's say 1080p screen and power equivalent to Xbox One S or PS4 levels, they will certainly brand it.



Emulators need a lot of power to run, many more times than the source hardware.
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It's not about Nintendo keeping up with the times, but that they cannot insist on an old 20nm chip for much longer. Literally no one will be able to do it for them before long.

What is crushingly disappointing is that Digital Foundry basically ruled out the Tegra X2 as the SoC replacement, based on some available source code they could analyse. S**t like that pisses me off. I get that Nintendo isn't about horsepower, but it would take no significant effort or cost to just have a better chip like the X2. And fanboys need to stop defending every stupid decision Nintendo makes - this is purely unnecessary cost-cutting and/or needless fear of alienating existing customers. The X2 would introduce no compatibility issues with titles made for the X1. A more powerful SoC is not just about graphics. NPC count, AI, asset density etc. are hugely impacted by CPU, and in any case, there's no writing off antialiasing, framerate, resolution, higher res textures etc. as luxury extras that gamers should do without. Nintendo is not going for the best hardware at their budget, and I find that unforgivable.
 
Bryn said:
It's not about Nintendo keeping up with the times, but that they cannot insist on an old 20nm chip for much longer. Literally no one will be able to do it for them before long.
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Yeah that's obviously as I said, the reason they are upgrading the SOC - better manufacturing costs and probably some power efficiency and hopefully performance gains, but minor.

What is crushingly disappointing is that Digital Foundry basically ruled out the Tegra X2 as the SoC replacement, based on some available source code they could analyse.
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It looks like Nvidia are also upgrading their Shield with the same chip that's going to be in the new Switch, which means that Nintendo is actually spurring them to keep developing Tegra. I think they're going in a direction of totally customizing Tegra for the Switch.

S**t like that pisses me off. I get that Nintendo isn't about horsepower, but it would take no significant effort or cost to just have a better chip like the X2. And fanboys need to stop defending every stupid decision Nintendo makes - this is purely unnecessary cost-cutting and/or needless fear of alienating existing customers. The X2 would introduce no compatibility issues with titles made for the X1. A more powerful SoC is not just about graphics. NPC count, AI, asset density etc. are hugely impacted by CPU, and in any case, there's no writing off antialiasing, framerate, resolution, higher res textures etc. as luxury extras that gamers should do without. Nintendo is not going for the best hardware at their budget, and I find that unforgivable.
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Switch is only 2 years old, and at the time it was using the best available gaming chip that Nintendo could get in there. By comparison the XBOX One S released more than 3 years after the XBOX One.

It was a revelation to me to have a tablet to be running something as advanced as BOTW - as much as everyone slams on it, you have to remember it is a 7w chip and it will always only be that.

I fully expect that by next year Nintendo will release a major hardware upgrade, and I'll be first in line to get it. In the meantime I'm enjoying the game collection which is amazing for something so underpowered.
 
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FiestaST said:
Nintendo Switch VS Switch Lite - What To Buy This Black Friday
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It should be simple. If you can afford it the full Switch (new revision) offers a lot more functionality. If you can't afford it, the Switch Lite is a nice alternative.
 
I thought the Switch name meant it can "switch" between being a full screen TV console and handheld gaming device. The Switch Lite is a switch that can't switch.
 
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