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Soundwave on 30 July 2020
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Slownenberg said:
Soundwave said:

I don't think a "Switch Pro" is happening.

We're already into the second half of 2020 and there's no reliable murmurs on a Switch Pro at all, whereas for the Mariko model revisions we had a ton of chatter.

I think you'll maybe get a "New Switch" type revision with a larger screen for both the main line and Lite models (easy enough to eat into the dead bezel space), maybe even a further die shrink to 7nm or 8nm but a full on Pro like the PS4 Pro/XBX I don't think is happening.

If it was I think we'd have heard more about it. Nvidia recruiting for a chip that has next-generation graphics and DLSS 2.0 integration points much moreso to well a next generation Switch. DLSS requires completely different hardware that the current Switch simply doesn't even have to begin with (Tensor cores).

To make a new chip with Tensor cores would be expensive, it's not the like DSi and New 3DS where they basically just kept the same GPU and just overclocked the CPU and threw in some extra RAM. You can't do DLSS 2.0 with just more RAM and higher clocked CPUs ... even the PS5 and XSX can't do DLSS 2.0 in the same way Nvidia does. It requires Tensor cores. 

Besides that a Switch Pro "for third party games" in 2021 doesn't make a whole lot of sense as most 3rd parties are moving on to the PS5/XSX, the Switch would need a full next-generation architecture to be able to get any of those ports. 

In general I don't think a Switch Pro that is decently beefed up is going to happen a la Pro/X, but its more likely than "Switch 2 in 2022" some people on here are saying. Was just doing some wild speculation as people seemed to think this meant new hardware coming soonish when obviously Switch 2 is a long way off. Most likely this chip is for early R&D for a chip that'll be out in 2 years and in the Switch 2 in 3.5 to 4 years.

There will no doubt be a Switch Pro, but yeah whenever I say Pro or Plus or Premium or whatever related to Switch I don't mean a mid-gen hardware upgrade like Pro/X, I mean like what Nintendo always does which is make a better updated version to keep the highest price point high and get some early adopters to doulbe dip on the system. Larger screen, more storage, hopefully bluetooth, maybe a little bit more power to run games a tiny bit smoother or high res - to me those would be the main things a Premium Switch would get at.

A Premium or Plus Switch model nothing to do with this job listing though, this is clearly for a next generation game console that utilizes DLSS 2.0 or better according to the listing. It says so right in the job listing. 

That's not going to be a "Switch with a bigger screen and Bluetooth", you don't hire a senior graphics engineer who specializes in A.I. neural processing and needs to work with DLSS 2.0 for that. 

DLSS 2.0 requires RTX Turing based architecture at minimum, Turing based architecture is basically the PS5/XBSX (RDNA 1.5/2) tier of architecture (better actually). They're not kidding around when the job description says "next generation graphics". 

My guess would be they are customizing a DLSS solution for Nintendo on the Switch 2 chip, something that might be able to reconstruct images from really, really low resolutions like 320x240 and move them up to 720p-1080p for example. That would make sense for a Switch successor (not so much a PC card) and they need more people trained in A.I. reconstruction to squeeze more out of the DLSS 2.0 standard they've set. Copying and pasting the existing DLSS 2.0 would massively benefit a Switch 2 to begin with, but if you can really crank it and focus on really low native resolutions, that would be extremely beneficial to Nintendo (especially in undocked modes). 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 30 July 2020