This Is How the Nintendo Switch 2 May Achieve 4K

This Is How the Nintendo Switch 2 May Achieve 4K Skip to content Search Home Latest Tech Reviews Science io9 AI Video Deals Best of 2024 Gaming This Is How the Nintendo Switch 2 May Achieve 4K With its special Nvidia chip and AI upscaling, the Nintendo Switch 2 may allow you to play at resolutions the first Switch couldn’t handle. By Kyle Barr Published January 2, 2025 | Comments ( 0 ) | 𝕏 Copied! © Photo: Sam Rutherford / Gizmodo The starting gun for 2025 also marked the footrace toward the Nintendo Switch 2 , which has entered its final lap sprint. Leaks of the Switch 2 ’s motherboard, combined with a recently revealed patent, offer a hint of the handheld’s power and show us how it may finally hit the fabled 4K resolutions without maxing out your hard drive space. The Nintendo Switch 2 has long been earmarked for a new, special Nvidia chip. This was supposedly the T234—though modified to fit the smaller Nintendo chassis—and renamed to T239. Based on these rumors, chip aficionados speculated this would be equivalent in power to the PlayStation 4 generation of consoles. Images posted to Reddit Wednesday show what could be the motherboard for Nintendo’s upcoming console, including the CPU socket, maybe. The chip doesn’t mention any naming for the T239, but the SOC could use a different serial number or codename. Switch 2 motherboard by u/MHN1994 in NintendoSwitch2 The original Switch was based on the Nvidia Tegra X1 SOC. Even for its time, back in 2017, the console felt out of date in terms of graphical performance. Thanks to its versatility and portability, it has become one of the most popular gaming devices. Still, when docked and connected to a TV, the console would only output in 720p in handheld mode and a max of 1080p. To achieve 4K, the Switch sequel would need to be able to output a resolution four times that of the original Switch. If you remember your console history, the original PlayStation 4 did not support 4K. It wasn’t until the PS4 Pro arrived in 2016 that we saw support for higher resolutions. We don’t know enough about Switch 2’s chip to know how well it performs at higher resolutions. However, a patent filed by Nintendo last year proposes a solution in the form of AI upscaling. Nintendo filed the patent for “Systems and methods for machine learning image conversion” in July 2023, though the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published the document on Dec. 31, 2024. The paper describes a system for converting images with AI to upscale them to a higher resolution. Upscaling is now prolific among PC games , with companies such as Nvidia DLSS (the company may  reveal DLSS 4 this month ), AMD, and Intel offering different varieties of upscaling tech. AI upscaling is making its way to consoles. The PS5 Pro offers its own blend of upscaling , dubbed PlayStation spectral super-resolution, or PSRR. The tech converts every frame played at a lower resolution to a higher resolution, letting you keep the performance of the original image. Game journalist Laura Kate noted this on Bluesky. The patent references allowing them to fit games on “smaller capacity physical media.” If you can get 4K out of your portable console without maxing out limited drive space, Nintendo—and I, for that matter—would call that a win. Kate noted that the patent notes upscaling from 520p to 1080p and 1080p to 4K. Nintendo’s first 8-inch handheld may indeed be more powerful than the 2017 rendition, but Nintendo has confirmed it will also be backward compatible to some extent. That means it will need to work with cartridges. The leaked motherboard for the Switch 2 shows it includes a USB-C port and a slot for Nintendo’s slim physical media. That poses a problem when the data on the cartridge is limited. It’s why even when you buy a disc for a game nowadays, you still need to download tens or hundreds more gigabytes of data not included on the disc. The legacy Japanese console maker previously sai d it plans to reveal the Switch 2 before the end of its fiscal year, which ends in March. We’re crossing our fingers for a January reveal, but if all these leaks are real, it shows that Nintendo is already well into full-scale production. Nintendo Switch 2 Daily Newsletter Get the best tech, science, and culture news in your inbox daily. Select News from the future, delivered to your present. Select Please select your desired newsletters and submit your email to upgrade your inbox. Sign me up Leave this field empty if you’re human: You May Also Like Tech News Gaming Here’s What the Nintendo Switch 2 Might Look Like The Switch 2 is a bigger handheld with a larger screen, but rumors hint we may have to wait far into 2025 to see it in person. By Kyle Barr Published December 12, 2024 Tech News Gaming Nintendo Confirms the Switch 2 Is Backwards Compatible, but There’s a Catch While the Switch 2 may be backwards compatible, Nintendo would not confirm whether we’ll still be able to use our old cartridges. By Kyle Barr Published November 6, 2024 Tech News Gaming Instead of the Switch 2, Nintendo Debuts ‘Alarmo,’ a Stressful Alarm Clock With Switch Sound Effects Nintendo’s Alarmo will play music from Super Mario and Legend of Zelda, then bombard you with coin sounds until you struggle out of bed. By Kyle Barr Published October 9, 2024 Tech News Gaming Nintendo Has Some Other Hardware Cooking That’s Not the Switch 2 A recent FCC filing has fans speculating over some kind of ‘Nintendo Switch U’ peripheral. By Kyle Barr Published September 23, 2024 Tech News Gaming Game Devs Reportedly Told Not to Expect Nintendo Switch 2 Before April 2025 Previous estimates supposed we’d see a Switch 2 by the end of March 2025. One insider is saying that’s wishful thinking. By Kyle Barr Published August 14, 2024 Latest news This Is How the Nintendo Switch 2 May Achieve 4K Start 2025 With a Brand New Google Pixel Tablet While They’re Cheaper Than iPads Birdwatching Meets Technology With This AI Bird Feeder Camera at 53% Off for a Smarter New Year Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd Teases a Hardcore Pennywise for Welcome to Derry iPhones Are Never Under $100 but This Tiny Smartphone Is Just $90 and Packed With Mega Features The JBL 9.1 Soundbar at 52% Off Is a Steal That Will Amplify Your New Year The Best New Movies and TV Streaming in January 2025, and Where to Watch Them 42 New Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy Books to Add to Your Shelf in January The Best Tech Gifts of 2024 The Best Tech Gifts of 2024 ➜ Latest news This Is How the Nintendo Switch 2 May Achieve 4K 1/2/2025, 10:13 am Start 2025 With a Brand New Google Pixel Tablet While They’re Cheaper Than iPads 1/2/2025, 10:00 am Birdwatching Meets Technology With This AI Bird Feeder Camera at 53% Off for a Smarter New Year 1/2/2025, 9:30 am Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd Teases a Hardcore Pennywise for Welcome to Derry 1/2/2025, 9:00 am Latest Reviews The Best Gadgets of December 2024 1/1/2025, 6:00 am Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 Earbuds Review: A Must-Have for Any Music Lover 12/28/2024, 7:00 am Smartphone Design Plateaued in 2024 12/26/2024, 6:00 am MSI Claw 8 AI+ Review: Quite a Redemption Story 12/26/2024, 12:01 am 𝕏 Sitemap Edición ES Edition FR Edição PT Accessibility Privacy Policy Terms of Use Advertising Reprints & Permissions Your Privacy Choices How We Review Products We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites. ©2025 GIZMODO USA LLC. All rights reserved. Cyber Monday Best VPN Best Free VPN Best Cheap VPN NordVPN Review ExpressVPN Review PIA Review ProtonVPN Review Surfshark Review Super Bowl 2025 US Open 2024 Best Cloud Storage Best Web Hosting About Gizmodo Mode Follow us 𝕏 Home Latest Tech Reviews Science io9 AI Video Deals Best of 2024 How to Tip Gizmodo About Gizmodo Cyber Monday Best VPN Best Free VPN Best Cheap VPN NordVPN Review ExpressVPN Review PIA Review ProtonVPN Review Surfshark Review Super Bowl 2025 US Open 2024 Best Cloud Storage Best Web Hosting About Gizmodo Mode Follow us 𝕏 Cookies settings