Rumor: Nintendo plans to launch a new Switch SKU in 2020 - UPDATE: Nintendo says no

[zorg1000]

RolStoppable said:

Slownenberg said:

Except it wasn't a "Pro", it was just the same original Switch with slight improvements. The Pro rumors turned out to be wrong and instead it was just the original Switch getting small internal improvements.. Companies normally do these types of updates, make a slightly more efficient version, usually reduces their cost too, and just swaps out the older model with the new model, usually no one even noticed cuz it's still the same model. It's not a different retail version, its just a small update to the same thing. A "Pro", or whatever, means a new retail item, with significant enhancements over the original and will cost more than whatever the current original Switch's price is when it comes out.

A "Pro" would probably mean improved game performance, larger screen, perhaps another improvement in battery capacity, larger internal storage, and a few small tweaks to the design to make it look like a new item, coming in at a higher price.

As far as a digital only version, I don't think it is very likely at all. A Switch "Pro" or a Switch Home/TV is far more likely. I doubt a digital only Switch would be very popular. I mean I try to pretty much only buy digital, but even I have 5 physical games now. Taking away a big advantage (physical games) wouldn't save a whole lot of money in the design of the system, and I think consumers would see that as a net negative compared to any price reductions. And it wouldn't be much of a price reduction because a digital only version would need a much larger internal storage.

In the end the Switch lineup will likely be Lite, "Pro", OG (if the Pro doesn't just entirely replace this), and maybe a "Home/TV". Lite and Home would have similar pricing at $200 for the foreseeable future, Pro would be $300 and if OG is still around it'd be $250 but honestly I think the OG would just be discontinued like the original 3DS a while after the Pro hit the market.

For your information, last year actually had no Pro rumors. The actual rumor was that Nintendo would launch a modest upgrade and additionally it was explicitly said that said upgrade was not going to be a Pro - the moniker "Pro" is unsurprisingly understood as an upgrade equal to what the PS4 Pro was to the PS4. Despite the clarity of the rumor, the internet decided to label the upgrade as Pro and eventually virtually everyone believed that a Pro was coming because that's how people kept calling it. That's why I mocked the gaming community in my thread about the confirmed modest Switch upgrade last year. ("Here's your Switch Pro.")

You can already see the same thing being in the making with NintendoSoup labeling the rumored new Switch model "Pro" despite no indicators for a Pro whatsoever.

As for the point of a digital-only version, there wouldn't be price reduction for it at all because retailers wouldn't stock it without getting a much higher than normal cut for selling it; after all, digital-only means no physical game sales for retailers. It's completely unreasonable to expect Nintendo to heavily subsidize a digital-only Switch like Microsoft has been doing with the SAD SKU.

I'm hoping for a $199 Switch TV, I havent taken my hybrid model out of the dock ever since I got the Lite so I would probably trade that in and go with Lite+TV combo.