So, with the Switch selling super well every week, the Steam Deck out on the streets as the most powerful mainstream handheld now, and the state of the whole industry baffled by supply shortages, I wanted to start yet another discussion regarding the next Nintendo machine and the tech that will go inside it. But what I really want to focus is: with the other consoles struggling (X|S and mainly PS5) and Nintendo having some sweet opening to expand Switch's lifetime, how do you think this is going to impact the tech in NS's successor?

In theory, every day that passes could mean a more powerful device down the road, and with the tech currently available they could come close to the Series S performance, at least in docked mode. The thing is, this is Nintendo and even if I do want a powerful enough machine, they haven't cared about raw power for a while.

Point in case, what I would like to get is just that: a machine that comes close to the Series S in power, thus attractive for devs to drop by many multiplats and providing a "buffer", so to speak, of 3-4 years that allows Nintendo to come up with their devices after the two other ones have released theirs, but always powered by more modern technology (especially from the handheld perspective) that allows them to not be so far away from the competition in terms of graphical output. But what I really think we'll have is a similar sized hybrid from today's machine, that will be capable of putting PS4 level graphics and that's all, even with all the available R&D time, so it can be a cheap product.

What do you think?

So far as far as rumours go and thanks to the Nvidia leaks, the most legit rumours that we have are from Kopite who has successfully leaked many Nvidia GPUs in the past such as Ampere's lineup a year prior to release.

Based on my findings, here is what we know and obviously take it with heaps of salt.

So what that means is that the Switch 2's SoC should be called T239 based on GA10F which is Ampere using Samsung's 8nm. It could have 1024 Cuda cores. Theoretically this would make sense assuming the Switch 2 launches in 2024sh because the original Switch was based on Maxwell that launched during Nvidia's Pascal era, Switch 2 would be based on Ampere and launch during Nvidia's Lovelace era. T239 is a customized version of T234:

Assuming that it's all true, we still don't know what further customization Nintendo will require for it such as will it have Tensor cores? RT cores? Clock Speed? CPU? etc. It's highly unlikely it will have 12 core CPU so similar to his thoughts of halving the cuda cores, halving the CPUs would make sense.

It should be on par or beat the Steam Decks performance so at the very least, it will be around the power level of a PS4 but at 720p. With DLSS and maybe Ray Tracing (Since Steam Deck has RT support), it could exceed it but they would want to keep the cost down.

I think $300 is doable but $400 would be worst case.

I get the impression Steam Deck will be an annual or every two year refreshed device, and therefore Deck 2 to be out before Switch 2 comes. And I fully expect Deck 2 to be more powerful than Switch 2.

Yea you are probably correct. I think Valve will update the Steam Deck every GPU cycle which is once every 2 years or worst case, 4 years.

Series S performance in docked mode isn't the upper limit I guess, but it's closer to the best case scenario. Nintendo could likely still thrive with the docked Switch 2 performing like a PS4 Pro, or even base PS4. The docked Switch is well below an Xbox One and is one of the best-selling game platforms of all-time.
I would love Switch 2 to run on a small SSD like the more expensive models of the Steam Deck, but it's not particularly likely.

EDIT:  My post is very layman after seeing other people posting in this thread, but probably around PS4 power, but better when docked due to DLSS. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to deliver that in 2024/2025 with decent battery life for $349.

8 Core Hercules AMD78E up to 2GHZ

12GB LPDDR5 Ram at a bandwidth of 102GB

1024 Cuda Cores

DLSS 2.2

10-15 watts

800P OLED

1080P docked

$400

I's be happy with this. Can't expect a 4K Switch. That's crazy talk.

What I expect. Roughly between a base Xbox One and base PS4 with a few modern features. Would only have to render PS5/SX ports at 480P/540P native and be upscaled.

I think Nintendo is gona start planing their next hardware after these crazzy prises stabilise. Nintendo dosent even play at the thought of loosing money. So this could be a super long gen with the switch.

Nintendo started planning their next hardware years ago.

Any chips that uses Xavier (Volta) or later has Tensor cores.
I would hope Switch 2 is based on Atlan (Ada Lovelace)... But even if it's based on the older Orin (Ampere), then Ray Tracing is in.

For CPU cores I wouldn't expect anymore than 8... With 4 and 6 core cortex-A78AE also being plausible... Less CPU means more GPU at the same TDP.

Hopefully it's more than that... But realistic expectations and all that, Nintendo tends to be conservative with it's hardware.

You see... The PS4 was based on an old, inefficient graphics core next GPU architecture... Whilst the Switch was based on Maxwell.
Anyone who knows anything about PC hardware will know that Maxwell was leagues superior to graphics core next in terms of hardware efficiency, which meant the Switch could punch above it's "specs weight" when compared to the Xbox One/Playstation 4.

Next time around, nVidia will not have that same advantage, RDNA2 in the Series S has proven to be extremely capable from an efficiency standpoint.

I am glad that finally in 2022 we aren't comparing devices just using tflops now.