The tides ebb and flow, the world spins, and the Nintendo Switch Pro rumor mill keeps on turning. There have been a ton of leaked details and plenty of rumors and theories about the Switch Pro over the last few months, but a recent batch of leaks may have the ring of authenticity to them.
News of the Switch Pro has arguably been Nintendo's worst-kept secret in quite some time, but the sheer volume of rumors and leaks with different sources and degrees of provenance has proven difficult to parse for many. A recent post on Spanish gaming news site Vandal looks set to add yet more fuel to the fire, but its source may be a trustworthy one, meriting it some consideration.
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The post on Vandal provided a host of physical and aesthetic details of the new console, reportedly gleaned from a source at an Asian manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories who had been able to see it in person. Specific information about the internal hardware and anything else not immediately obvious to the naked eye was therefore not readily available, but the source did confirm the long-rumored 7-inch OLED screen with 4K resolution available when docked. They also claimed that the Switch Pro would have a new, more robust kickstand more in line with Microsoft's Surface tablet series than the flimsy thing the current console has. The SD card slot has also seemingly been moved to be more accessible.
By and large, the console itself will apparently look pretty similar to its current iteration, including in size. The elimination of the black bezels around the edge of the current Switch screen seem to clear enough space for the larger screen without having to make the console any bigger, and the console should still work with current-gen Joy-Cons and other peripherals. The console dock, however, will reportedly be a little wider and will include two USB 3.0 ports and, for the first time in a Nintendo console, an ethernet port. This latter addition will be huge news for anyone interested in low-latency online gaming, whether at a casual or a professional level.
The source also claimed that the Switch Pro is in the final stages of production, with a tentative release window for the fall. However, with semiconductor shortages still ravaging the tech industry at large, supply and demand for the new console could still fall wildly out of sync and throw any firmer release plans into disarray. Vandal's source already warned that Europe may not see the release of the Switch Pro until the end of November, and even then in limited numbers.
Still, if even half of these details are true - and Vandal has a pretty good track record - Nintendo fans have a lot to look forward to. Many are expecting an announcement from the company soon, possibly even before E3 hits next month. If it does address the rumors of the Switch Pro, it'll be interesting to see which details get confirmed and which get thoroughly quashed.
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Source: Vandal, NintendoLife (translation)