Which Nintendo Switch 2 leaks were accurate?

Nintendo showcased its next console, the Nintendo Switch 2, on Thursday, but the event wasn’t the big surprise reveal the company likely intended. Nintendo had previously said very little about its next console, so Nintendo and console insiders took matters into their own hands. We’d be remiss to call what’s happened over the past several months “leaks.” It’s been more like a flood. The Nintendo Switch 2 started taking shape well before Nintendo decided it was time to show off the console — a mixture of rumors and real, leaked information about what’s to come.

Now that we have an official look at the Nintendo Switch 2, we can start to dig in to the accuracy of the leaks, with the caveat that there’s still a lot to learn about the console. The big one to start with is the leaked unveiling date for the Switch 2: Yep, the leaks were right. Nintendo did reveal its new console Thursday morning, just as reported.

Let’s dive in to the rest of the leaks and rumors to see what’s accurate and what’s not.

No reports have suggested that Nintendo’s next console would be anything other than a hybrid system that’s playable both in docked and handheld modes, but Nintendo’s announcement Thursday is the first time that’s been officially confirmed. A leak from December showed a big, U-shaped kickstand on the Switch 2, which was also confirmed to be true in the video. Like the original console, the Switch 2 has detachable Joy-Cons.

Nintendo didn’t announce a release date for the Switch 2, so we don’t know if the release date leaks are accurate. Nintendo said during the reveal video that the Switch 2 will be released in 2025. Based on the timing of the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience hands-on preview events for consumers, which run through June 2025, it seems unlikely that the console will be released before then.

One of the more intriguing rumors about the Switch 2 is that its Joy-Con controllers have an optical sensor, like the kind you’d find on the underside of a computer mouse. It was speculation that sounded ridiculous at first, but became much less so after a Redditor posted a video trying it. Nintendo didn’t explicitly confirm that the new Joy-Con controllers can be used like a mouse, but the company certainly did imply it — the clip has a brief shot of the two Joy-Cons buzzing around like two skinny mice — like both real mice and computer mice, with the wrist strap trailing behind like a real tail.

A leak from April declared that Joy-Cons and the Switch Pro Controller are both compatible with Switch 2. The video shown Thursday, however, shows the Joy-Cons snapping into the screen portion of the console, whereas the original Joy-Cons slide in. It doesn’t look like you’ll be able to plug old Joy-Cons into the new base, but it’s yet to be confirmed whether the older Joy-Cons are otherwise compatible.

Again in April, the big news was that Joy-Cons connect to Switch 2 using magnetic technology that switches on and off using an electric current. The other rumor around magnets, from December, was that the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons use Hall-effect joysticks, which mean they should be more reliable and less prone (or even be immune) to joystick drift. Joy-Con drift is one of the Switch’s biggest issues, making the Hall-effect joysticks in its successor’s controllers a huge draw. The video doesn’t confirm that the console uses magnets, but it does show the Joy-Cons snapping right into place.

Image: Nintendo

Some of the earliest Switch 2 rumors and leaks were about the console’s screen. Would it feature an LCD or an OLED screen? A Bloomberg report from January 2024 suggested the Switch 2 would have an 8-inch LCD screen. That’s bigger than Nintendo’s original Switch, which had a 6.2-inch display. The OLED Switch, which debuted in 2021, has a 7-inch screen. The Switch 2’s 8-inch screen makes it bigger than both the Steam Deck’s original and OLED models. With the larger screen, it was expected that the Switch 2 itself would be bigger, too.

The video doesn’t confirm exactly how big the screen is, but it’s definitely bigger — the video clip shows the screen next to the original Switch Joy-Cons, which are clearly smaller.

Nintendo filed a patent in 2023 that was approved in 2024 regarding AI-based upscaling that would allow games running at 1080p to be upscaled to 4K during runtime, sparking rumors that the Switch 2 would use AI upscaling to deliver higher-resolution gameplay. Reports out of Gamescom 2023 in Germany suggested that a Switch 2 demo during the show used Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology to boost frame rates and image quality. There’s no way just yet to tell if these leaks are true — the video clip didn’t go into specs.

A Redditor named NextHandheld posted a series of compelling leaks in December, one of which indicated that the Switch 2 would be capable of running in 4K when docked. Specifically, the console draws 60W of power while docked and 45W undocked. Higher power usage suggests increased performance or graphical capabilities. Again, this one’s not clear: The video showcased hardware, but didn’t go into specs.

The aforementioned reporting from Gamescom said Nintendo demoed the Switch 2 running The Matrix Awakens’ Unreal Engine 5 technology demo with “visuals comparable to Sony’s and Microsoft’s current-gen consoles” (that’s the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, respectively). Reuters reported in February 2024 that the Switch 2 would contain a custom Nvidia chip that is indeed capable of ray tracing and DLSS, something seemingly supported by newly leaked motherboard information from earlier this month. More customs and shipping data found by eager Switch 2 onlookers suggested the Switch 2 boasts a RAM increase to 12 GB from the original Switch’s 4 GB, and a boost in onboard storage to 256 GB from 32 GB.

Nintendo didn’t go into specs during this clip, but there may be more to come when players get to go hands-on in April.

It’s been reported that the Nintendo Switch 2 will launch with a new Mario Kart game, and that it’ll eventually get a 3D Mario game. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Assassin’s Creed Shadowsand even Halo: The Master Chief Collection are games that have been bandied about, but Nintendo hasn’t confirmed (or denied) any of these — except that a new Mario Kart game will be playable on the new Switch 2. During the event, Nintendo showed the Switch playing just one game — seemingly a new Mario Kart.

Yep! These rumors are true. Nintendo confirmed in an accompanying news release that the Switch 2 will support both physical and digital Switch games.

Leaks purported to be from GameStop retail stores suggest the Switch 2 will support microSD Express, an upgrade from the UHS-I microSD cards the Switch supports. The new storage card type is faster than its predecessor, allowing for higher read and write speeds — which will deliver better performance, due to the speed at which data can be accessed or saved. It’s hard to say, judging by the video, whether or not this one is true.

Yes! There are two USB-C ports on the Nintendo Switch 2 — one on the top and another on the bottom, which is what the Genki model of Switch 2 showed.