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Nintendo has finally revealed it has indeed been working on a new Switch, but it won't be any more powerful than a regular one.
Its E3 Direct came and went, and there was nothing from Nintendo about the so-called Switch Pro. That was despite rumors it would be announced ahead of time so developers could flaunt what their new games would be able to do on it. Fast forward a few weeks and Nintendo has finally broken the news, announcing its OLED Model.
Why there was really no need to reveal the upgraded Switch before E3 may have since become clear. A lot of the OLED Model's bells and whistles can be seen in the reveal trailer below. However, there's no mention of what else the new console is capable of internally when compared to a regular Switch. There's very little on that front on Nintendo's website either.
It seems as if the reason for that is simply because there's nothing to tell. Nintendo has confirmed to The Verge that internally, nothing much has changed. It has the same CPU as a normal Switch and also doesn't have any additional RAM. Perhaps that's why it wasn't dubbed a Switch Pro and its name instead focuses on the one major change to the console, its screen.
The screen is seven inches wide as opposed to the regular Switch which is only 6.2 inches. It also has a much wider and far more sturdy stand, plus twice as much memory as a normal Switch. All well and good and welcome changes, but perhaps not enough for people to fork out $350 on when it arrives later this year, especially if you already own a Switch.
The OLED Model will be here on October 8, 2021, and, as mentioned above, it will retail for $349.99 in the US. While Nintendo will be hopeful that even those who already own a Switch or a Switch Lite will buy it to replace their old console, or live alongside it, the lack of extra power in the OLED model could mean many people stick with what they have. Unless the OLED Model is confirmed to be immune to Joy-Con drift, of course.