Last week’s Nintendo Switch 2 leak that includes photos of what looks like actual hardware is “almost certainly real,” the tech experts at Digital Foundry have said.
The set of photos, said to have emerged from a Chinese website before making their way to reddit, include prototype components and provide “our first hard evidence of what form the machine may actually take,” Digital Foundry said in a post on Eurogamer and in a video on YouTube.
DF said that because of prior leaks based on tracking shipping manifests coming out of Taiwan, “it can be determined that the leak last week is genuine - or at least as accurate as an old prototype dating from October 2023 can be.”
The photos, which also include shots of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modeling, reveal an eight-inch LCD, a larger form factor, and new Joy-Cons connecting via magnetic rails. The leak also reveals twin USB-C ports top and bottom (the suggestion here is the top port is for peripherals such as an external camera or charging while in table-top play), a Micro-SD card slot, and cartridge support, “with strong hints that original Switch media is also supported,” DF said.
DF also discussed the specifications of the Switch 2 (12GB of RAM in total with a maximum of 102GB/s of bandwidth). The original Switch has 4GB.
Speaking to IGN, Digital Foundry chief Richard Leadbetter explained why the photos are legit. "It's right to have a degree of scepticism about this leak because there's nothing to stop someone 3D printing up a fake casing," he said. "However, faking a convincing motherboard would require a degree of technical knowledge that I'd put beyond even the most elaborate hoax. It would be easier simply not to fake a board at all and to make the printed components look a lot more genuine.
"Then there's the fact that everything shown on that board is a match for the latest and most accurate leaks based on Taiwan shipping manifests, accumulated by the ardent sleuths on the Famiboards forum."
Nintendo is yet to comment on the images, and it’s important to note that they remain unverified at this time, but VGC was told by one source that they “match what the company has told partners to expect from its design.”
Tweets from VGC's Andy Robinson, below, include the images:
A summary of today's alleged Switch 2 images 'leak'. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/Z4rfSGz4WQ
— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) September 18, 2024
(3/3) pic.twitter.com/uHApHsgxeW
— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) September 18, 2024
Nintendo has said on the record that it will announce its next generation console before April 2025, and indicated the console won’t launch until after its current financial year. Still, Switch 2 excitement is at fever pitch, and we even have developers saying they plan to release their upcoming games on the console. When Switch 2 does eventually come out, Nintendo expects to have plenty of stock available, which in turn will hopefully combat scalping.
For more on what may eventually become the Switch 2, you can read everything else we know about the company’s next console.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
