Nintendo’s next console, the successor to the Nintendo Switch, may feature magnetic Joy-Con controllers that will finally do away with stick drift the hybrid console is infamous for. The Nintendo Switch 2 will reportedly also come with a more powerful dock than its predecessor and a sturdier kickstand. Nintendo has not shared any details about its upcoming console yet, but has confirmed the Switch 2 will be announced in the current fiscal year, ending March 31, 2025.
Switch 2 Joy-Con Design Detailed
New details about the design and power rating of the Nintendo Switch successor console (Nintendo has not revealed the official moniker of its next hybrid console yet) come from The Verge, citing a Reddit leaker, “NextHandheld”, who recently shared details about the upcoming console on the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit, claiming they had experienced the device hands-on.
In a conversation with The Verge published Thursday, NextHandheld provided photographs of the Switch 2 that reportedly showed the console’s new Joy-Con connector mechanism. The Switch 2 will likely ditch the rail system from its predecessor for a magnetic connection, with the sides of the screen featuring a “long, rounded, hollow area” with a 13-pin connector for Joy-Cons to magnetically snap into place. According to the leaker, attaching Joy-Cons to the Switch 2 produces a physical magnetic click feedback. To release the connection, there’s a much larger button on the controller connected to a magnet.
More importantly, the new controller design will reportedly utilise magnetic Hall effect joysticks, eliminating the maligned stick-drift issue from the Nintendo Switch. Joy-Cons on the Switch are infamous for developing drift and deteriorating over time and Nintendo seems to have gone for fixing the major flaw in the successor console.
Switch 2 Said to Get More Powerful Dock
NextHandheld also told The Verge that the Switch 2 would come with a more powerful dock, rated for 60W, with the hybrid console itself rated for 45W. These numbers, if true, would be an improvement on the Nintendo Switch, which draws around 18W of power from its 39W AC adapter.
Further, shared photos from the leaker reportedly showed a U-shaped rail kickstand, replacing the feeble stand from the original Switch and the wider kickstand from the OLED model.
Finally, according to images shared by NextHandheld, Nintendo’s next console will officially be called the Nintendo Switch 2. The leaked image of the dock reportedly included the Nintendo Switch logo with a “2” next to it.
Nintendo has not yet announced the official moniker for the Switch successor. The company, however, confirmed last month the upcoming console would support backwards compatibility with the Switch. The Japanese gaming giant also confirmed that Nintendo Switch Online, the company’s subscription service for Switch that provides access to online multiplayer, cloud saves and a library of select games from older consoles, would be available on the Nintendo Switch 2.