What do we know about the Switch 2’s hardware power?

Enlarge / A look at the Nvidia T234 that could be the basis for a scaled-down custom chip in the next Nintendo console. (credit: Nvidia / Imgur)

In recent months, the long-running speculation surrounding Nintendo's inevitable follow-up to the Switch has become more frequent and more specific, pointing to a release sometime in late 2024. Now, the pixel-counting boffins over at Digital Foundry have gone deep with some informed speculation on the system, dissecting leaked details on what they're convinced is the Nvidia chip Nintendo will be putting in their Switch follow-up.

That chip is the Nvidia T239, a scaled-down, custom variant of the Nvidia Orin T234 that is popular in the automotive and robotics markets. While Digital Foundry can't say definitively that this is the next Switch chip with "absolute 100 percent certainty," the website points to circumstantial links and references to the chip in a number of leaks, a recent Nvidia hack, LinkedIn posts from Nvidia employees, and Nvidia's own Linux distribution.

"From my perspective, the bottom line is that by a process of elimination, T239 is the best candidate for the processor at the heart of the new Nintendo machine," Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter writes. "With a mooted 2024 release date, there have been no convincing leaks whatsoever for any other processor that could find its way into the new Switch."