Nintendo’s OLED Switch: all of the news about the console upgrade

OLED screens are glorious, gorgeous, vibrant — but they don’t last forever. Eventually, their organically lit pixels can wear, and some have understandably been worried that the OLED-equipped Nintendo Switch, released last October, might eventually succumb to burn-in. The good news? According to one test, it might take 3,600 hours of constant play on a static screen to even begin to see the first signs of that dreaded screen malady.

YouTuber Wulff Den reports that after five months leaving a Nintendo Switch OLED turned on, plugged into a charger, leaving a static shot of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Link effectively staring into the sun, he’s only now finally seeing some ghosting. And it’s not a lot, as you’ll see for yourself in the video embedded above. (Wulff Den also tested at 1,800 hours, and didn’t see much effect back then.)

Nintendo has issued an unusual statement denying a report that said the upcoming OLED version of the Switch would have higher profit margins than the regular model. The report in question was published by Bloomberg last week and speculated that the higher-end components in the OLED Switch could total around an extra $10 per unit, based on analyst estimates.

“A news report on July 15, 2021(JST) claimed that the profit margin of the Nintendo Switch (OLED Model) would increase compared to the Nintendo Switch,” Nintendo’s statement reads. “To ensure correct understanding among our investors and customers, we want to make clear that the claim is incorrect.” Nintendo didn’t provide any information about the profit margins of either Switch console.

Nintendo revealed a new model of the Switch this week that adds an OLED screen, enhanced speakers, and a much-improved kickstand. One thing it seems the OLED Switch won’t bring, however, is a fix for the Joy-Con drift issues that have plagued Switch owners for years — and frustratingly, Nintendo won’t even confirm that it won’t. A variety of publications including The Verge tried to ask the question, but Nintendo won’t tackle it head-on, despite other helpful answers like how the new Switch won’t have a new CPU.

Switch owners have been reporting Joy-Con drift problems for years, and the problem is bad enough that it’s the subject of numerous lawsuits — though Nintendo will unofficially fix controllers experiencing Joy-Con drift for free, even if you’re out of warranty. One of our top requests for a revised Switch was a fix for the drift problems, and we hoped that a Switch revision would have been the moment Nintendo finally addressed this major issue. But it seems likely that Nintendo did not take the opportunity to do so.

Sitting down in Nintendo’s offices in Redwood City, California, yesterday, I already knew all of the main details on the new Switch OLED model. It has a larger 7-inch OLED screen, an improved kickstand, increased internal storage, and very minor design tweaks. It’s not the “Switch Pro” that many have been hoping for. It’s just a Switch with a bigger, nicer screen.

I knew all that going in, but after playing a half-hour’s worth of Mario Kart and Breath of the Wild, I believe the word “just” in the previous sentence is unfair. The Switch OLED model has a bigger, nicer screen, and that’s more than enough to justify its existence — and perhaps its $350 price.

At least in many of the corners of the internet I’ve been reading all day, the response to the OLED Nintendo Switch has not been all that positive. It’s no surprise, really — credible reporting had suggested a more powerful model with 4K output, but the final product features the same internals as the current Switch. If you prefer to play Nintendo games on your TV, the new version’s bigger OLED screen isn’t going to do anything for you.

I’m still buying one, though. A proper screen upgrade has been my most-wanted Switch feature ever since the console came out, and now more so than ever.

The Nintendo Switch is fine. Like Alex says, there’s no pressing reason for Nintendo to replace it right now. But does that mean today’s new OLED variant has utterly dashed our dreams of a more powerful Switch Pro, one that might play games like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Hyrule Warriors, and Persona 5 Strikers without chugging?

I wouldn’t rule out a Switch Pro just yet, partly because I have a hard time believing Nintendo can resist pumping out as many models as the market will hold:

Nintendo finally did it! There’s a new Nintendo Switch coming in October! Over a year of rumors have amounted to the Nintendo Switch OLED model, featuring a slightly larger OLED display, “improved audio,” a built-in ethernet port, and a better kickstand. All of that hype has brought us a device that’s a mere step or two above the product launched back in March 2017. It sort of reminds me of that half-decade where Apple seemed to be stuck with the same generation of Intel CPUs in its laptops. The incremental improvements are nice, but we were all kind of hoping for more (like an end to Joy-Con drift?). Only Nintendo has never needed to give us more.

I’ve spent the last year and a half using a Nintendo Switch Lite and rereading rumors about the “Switch Pro” that seemed to promise a fix for every single issue I and others had with the original product. I thought a lot about how cool it would be to play games on my TV in 4K or marvel at improved frame rates or just pair my Bluetooth headphones without using some kind of dongle. With the 4K HDR-capable PS5 and Xbox Series X tucked into my entertainment center, I’ve gotten used to familiar games being tweaked for the TVs actually made in 2021 and would like to experience Breath of the Wild the same way I’m currently experiencing Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Nintendo just announced a new model of the Switch that has an OLED screen, but it won’t bring major changes to the CPU or RAM currently used in other iterations of the console, Nintendo confirmed to The Verge.

“Nintendo Switch (OLED model) does not have a new CPU, or more RAM, from previous Nintendo Switch models,” Nintendo said to The Verge.

Nintendo’s new Switch with an OLED screen seems promising for people who’ve wanted a bigger, more vibrant display to play games. That’s worth getting excited about (despite the apparent lack of spec improvements inside), but I’m just as pleased that Nintendo revised the truly horrible kickstand present in the original Switch. Instead of the flimsy, fragile stand that’s prone to wobbling (or breaking if you’re unlucky), the new one takes a page from Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets — and seems a lot better for it.

Looking at the new Switch console’s backside, the kickstand is much wider, extending across the entire bottom part of the tablet to better support its weight. Nintendo’s announcement video shows the improved kickstand supporting custom adjustments, which should give you more ways to comfortably use it.