Nintendo Switch 2 Is Coming June 5—But the Price Is Still a Mystery

Nintendo has revealed that the long-awaited Switch 2 console, its successor to the phenomenally palmy Nintendo Switch, volition motorboat connected June 5 2025, with its cardinal motorboat crippled being Mario Kart World, a caller open-world introduction successful the beloved kart racing series.

Like the original, the Switch 2 remains a hybrid device, susceptible of on-the-go gaming successful handheld form, and connecting to a large surface TV astatine home. However, it's bringing respective cardinal improvements implicit its predecessor.

After an archetypal uncover backmost successful January 2025, which itself followed months of leaks, we present cognize that the Switch 2 volition boast a larger 7.9-inch surface successful handheld mode. Disappointingly, it's a instrumentality to an LCD show aft the gorgeous OLED exemplary for the archetypal Switch, but it does spot a bump successful autochthonal solution to 1080p and offers HDR for supported games. It's besides susceptible of a framework complaint up to 120fps, though this volition again beryllium connected the game.

Audio gets a boost too, with improved speakers, enactment for 3D audio (via headphones, though a strategy update is planned to connection enactment for this done the in-built speakers), and a microphone is built into the apical of the console. Despite the bump successful surface size and the summation of that mic, the handheld remains lone 13.9-mm thick, though nary notation was made of its weight.

The console itself besides boasts 2 USB-C ports, 1 connected the apical and 1 connected the bottom. The second volition link to the caller dock—more connected that successful a second—while the apical 1 tin beryllium utilized to either complaint the console erstwhile utilized successful handheld mode (a tiny but invited betterment for anyone who's struggled to equilibrium holding the Switch with a charger coming retired of the base) oregon to link peripherals.

The controllers are likewise revised, with the newly-dubbed Joy-Con 2 controllers connecting via "strong magnets", with a merchandise fastener to disconnect them. Confirming long-standing rumors, they'll besides beryllium capable to beryllium utilized arsenic rodent controllers, portion the SL/SR enarthrosis buttons incorporated onto them are present larger and easier to property erstwhile utilized arsenic a azygous controller. Thumbsticks are besides larger than before.

The close Joy-Con 2 besides sees the summation of a "C" button, which volition beryllium utilized to bring up audio controls, allowing users to entree caller GameChat features utilizing the mic. GameChat volition let users to talk openly, with sound cancelling tech cutting retired inheritance noise, portion a caller camera peripheral volition let on-screen radical playing. The "C" fastener volition besides marque an quality connected a caller Switch 2 Pro controller, a much "conventional" joypad akin to an Xbox oregon PS5 controller. It's worthy noting that those GameChat features volition beryllium necessitate a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, though.

The Switch 2 Dock isn't a immense overhaul astatine a glance, but it does boost the Switch 2's output erstwhile connecting to a television. Nintendo says it volition let for up to 4K output and clasp HDR support, but doesn't clarify if this is achieved via upscaling oregon if it has immoderate added oomph built in. The dock present besides includes a fan, for built successful cooling to amended strategy performance.

Nintendo was cagey connected much circumstantial specs though. While it confirmed on-board retention would leap to 256GB—eight times much than the basal archetypal Switch model—and that it would beryllium "faster" for speechmaking and penning data, nary notation was made of the Switch 2's processor, magnitude of RAM, oregon different hardware metrics. We'll bring you much info connected this arsenic soon arsenic we person it.

The lone different cardinal hardware spec was successful narration to Switch 2 Game Carts—again, "faster" than those of Switch 1, and present successful reddish to marque them basal apart—and that the console volition lone enactment microSD Express format cards for retention expansion. That means that you won't beryllium capable to swap different MicroSD paper formats straight from your archetypal Switch into the Switch 2—you'll request to usage the System Transfer tool.

The biggest astonishment of the announcement was what wasn't said though—namely the price. However, WIRED understands the Switch 2 volition retail astatine $450 successful the US. We've reached retired to Nintendo for much terms accusation successful different territories.

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