News, Rumors, and Expected Price, Release Date, and Specs

The latest Switch is the OLED model from late 2021. While nothing has been announced, there’s speculation Nintendo is working on a new model called the Switch Pro. What that means isn’t really clear because Nintendo has yet to confirm such a device, but let’s see what the rumors have been saying.

When Will the Nintendo Switch Pro Be Released?

It’s tough to say when or if the Switch Pro will come out because, well, Nintendo hasn’t said anything about it. However, we might have a general release date guide; some say we probably won’t see new hardware until after March 2023.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the following in early August 2022:

Nintendo will continue to sell three [Switch] models: the standard model; the Switch Lite with reduced price, size and features; and the OLED model.

This could suggest that a new model shouldn’t be expected anytime soon. But at the same time, it doesn’t really exclude the possibility.

To narrow this down a bit more, we could rely on tweets spotted by Tom’s Guide, which cite claim that the Switch Pro will launch “within the first six months of 2023.”

This would put the Pro Switch release around 1.5 years after the current model, which sounds about right.

• Nintendo Switch OLED: October 2021
• Nintendo Switch Lite: September 2019
• Nintendo Switch (battery upgrade): August 2019
• Nintendo Switch: March 2017

We’ve also heard the next model could be called the Nintendo Switch 2, though a next-gen console might not arrive until 2024.

Nintendo Switch Pro Price Rumors

Just like its release date, there’s been no official announcement about the Switch Pro price. But if the OLED model is anything to base our guess on, this Switch will be more than $350, which is the price for the 2021 OLED Switch.

With the Switch Pro presumably adding 4K support and better performance, it only makes sense to see a jump in price, maybe something like $400.

This price is supported by Bloomberg Intelligence’s Matthew Kanterman, who “foresees an increase of as much as $100.”

Pre-Order Information

There’s clearly no pre-order information just yet. As soon as we have a link to buy the Nintendo Switch Pro, we’ll include it here.

Check out the current Nintendo Switch offerings on Nintendo’s website.

Nintendo Switch Pro Features and Specs

So what makes this a Switch Pro, specifically? The stories we’ve seen are primarily focused on a few things: resolution, battery, and performance.

We’ve heard that the Switch Pro will have an OLED display and support 4K resolution in docked mode. This was anticipated for the 2021 model, only it didn’t arrive. So the same rumor is being pushed again for this model. And it makes sense, especially if we won’t see this for another year.

As with most devices, we expect the Switch Pro to push battery life a bit longer. The OLED model has approximately 5–9 hours of battery life, an upgrade from the Switch Lite’s 3–7 hours. A vast improvement isn’t expected, but anything would be nice, maybe even another hour.

Similarly, a performance boost would be appreciated. Faster resources from the processor and storage would increase everything from load times to general gameplay.

The OLED Switch comes with 64 GB of built-in storage, while the Switch Lite and standard model have 32 GB. We could see this bumped up again, but it might not be necessary since the current Switch supports microSD upgrades of up to 2 TB.

Handheld, TV, and tabletop mode are expected in the Switch Pro, just like the last couple of models. We’d also like to see support for audio input so you can use a Bluetooth mic for in-game chat, something the 2021 Switch doesn’t offer.

The Latest News About the Nintendo Switch Pro

You can get more gaming news from Lifewire on all kinds of topics; here are more stories and some rumors about the Switch Pro console.