StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation and Discussion |ST| "Oh Black Knight, Tape Me Out to Denmark!"

Dakhil · Oct 1, 2021

Welcome everyone!

Before anyone asks, the secret identity of Black Knight, a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics, is Dane Whitman, which is also rumoured to be the codename of the DLSS model*'s SoC. A tape-out is the final phase of designing integrated circuits before manufacturing begins. And Danes are people who are from Denmark. Also, I'd like to say thank you to @Foltzie for the title recommendation!

Anyway, the purpose of this thread is to be the one and only place on FamiBoards to speculate and discuss news and/or rumours that may or may not pertain to future Nintendo hardware and technology.

Disagreeing with other members is a normal and inevitable part of speculation and discussion. But please don't dismiss the opinions of other members when speculating and discussing. And the site rules apply to this thread, such as:

no trolling
no sexual and/or objectifying posts
no bigoted posts
no platform wars
no hostility towards other members
no engaging in off-site drama
no accusations of astroturfing

Anyone found violating any of those rules will be issued appropriate punishments by the mods, ranging from a warning to a permanent ban. (Please don't get banned; this thread isn't worth it.)

And there are a couple of rules exclusive to here that I hope the mods will strictly enforce, such as:

no unwarranted negativity
no off-topic, throwaway comments (e.g. "I'm posting, so I can get access to the hidden post.", "Nintendo's gonna Nintendo.", etc.)
no incessant nagging towards potential insiders, reputable insiders, and/or reputable sources, for more information

It should be noted that any rumours in this thread should be taken with a huge grain of salt, including rumours from reputable insiders and sources. Plans can and do change, so there's a good chance rumours can turn out to be wrong.

And please avoid discussing aspects other than the hardware and technology aspects of games if possible.

Do you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of speculation and discussion?
No worries! I'll be continuously updating this thread with any news and rumours coming from the speculation and discussion as quickly and as often as I possibly can.
It should be noted that any links to potentially relevant rumours from potential insiders will be hidden to people who at least do a couple of posts in order to protect potential insiders. But not all potentially relevant rumours involve potential insiders.
The newest news and rumours will be on the very top whilst the oldest will be on the very bottom.

Last updated: 13 October 2021 13:46 (UTC-07:00)
~October 2021~
Relevant rumours:
13 October 2021 → Nate the Hate: NateDrake has heard from developer sources that large third party developers received devkits for the DLSS model* on late 2020, with smaller third party developers receiving dev kits for the DLSS model* on June 2021. The DLSS model*'s currently positioned to third party developers as a revision, similar to the Game Boy Color and the New Nintendo 3DS. Third party developers are developing games exclusive to the DLSS model*. And third party developers are targeting completing the development of games for the DLSS model* by late 2022. Nintendo has informed third party developers that Nintendo plans the release window for the DLSS model* to be around late 2022 to early 2023. The DLSS model* can output games in 4K using DLSS. And third party developers are excited about DLSS model*.

4 October 2021 → Digital Foundry: Digital Foundry believes a next-gen console exists and 4K dev kits are out there. Digital Foundry also believes a 2022 launch date for a next-gen Nintendo Switch is unlikely, but not necessarily due to the global chip shortage, since Nintendo probably has booked orders years in advance. And Digital Foundry believes it's unlikely the OLED model was originally planned to have 4K capability, but was ultimately canned, due to the sheer costs of creating in-development consoles, although there may be an outside chance, citing the Tegra variant of the Nintendo 3DS dev kits as an example.

~September 2021~
Relevant news:
30 September 2021 → Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) via FreePatentsOnline.com: Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) filed two patents (here and here) titled "Systems and Methods for Machine Learned Image Conversion" on 25 March 2020, which was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 30 September 2021.

30 September 2021 → Zynga via Kotaku: Zynga denies the Bloomberg report, mentioning that as the developer for Star Wars: Hunters on the Nintendo Switch, Zynga confirms that none of the devkits in possession or are in receipt are the 4K devkits.

29 September 2021 → Nintendo: Nintendo mentioned to investors that Bloomberg falsely claimed that Nintendo's supplying tools for developing games for a Nintendo Switch model with 4K support. And that Nintendo has no plans to release any other Nintendo Switch model other than the OLED model.

Relevant rumours:
30 September 2021 → Gamereactor Spain: Gamereactor Spain has learned that at least one third party developer company is working on a 4K game for a Nintendo console.

29 September 2021 → Twitter: Dave Gibson mentioned that Nintendo isn't lying to investors about:

29 September 2021 → Bloomberg: Bloomberg identified 11 third party developer companies, including Zynga Inc, that were in possession of dev kits for the DLSS model*, which can transmit video to a TV or a monitor at 4K, although Bloomberg believes the number is much higher. The DLSS model*, which is capable of running 4K games, isn't expected to release until late 2022 according to people familiar with plans. The reason why the DLSS model* wasn't released in late 2021 was due to component shortages according to a person familiar with Nintendo's hardware planning. Nintendo had already send dev kits for the DLSS model* to third party developers and asked to develop games that support 4K by the time the OLED model was announced. The third party developers in possession of the dev kits for the DLSS model* expect 4K games for the DLSS model* to be released during or after 2H 2022. And supplies for the ABF substrates, which are necessary for the DLSS model*, are expected to be fully booked until 2025, according to an executive of one of the component supplier companies supplying ABF substrates to Nintendo.

Potentially relevant news:
27 September 2021 → IM Motors: IM Motors unveiled pictures of the Orin X prototype, which will be integrated into the electronic control unit (ECU) of the IM AD intelligent driving system. Orin X, which is fabricated using a 7 nm** process node, features a brand new Nvidia GPU and a 12 core Arm CPU, which is capable of delivering 254 TOPS, making Orin X 10x more performant than Mobileye's EyeQ5, and 3.5x more performant than Tesla's HW3.

21 September 2021 → LinkedIn: Nintendo Technology Development, Inc. (Redmond, WA) has posted a contract job listing for a software engineer for display technology and development, with mention of one of the duties being researching technologies and algorithms that's going to be used for post-processing images.

~August 2021~
Relevant rumours:
15 August 2021 → ResetEra: NateDrake mentioned no third party developers have heard about the DLSS model* until late 2020.

Potentially relevant news:
25 August 2021 → JEDEC: JEDEC announces the publication of the standard for the XFM Embedded and Removable Memory Device (XFMD), a new universal data storage media that provides a NVMe to PCIe Express interface in a small, thin form factor.

10 August 2021 → Kioxia: Kioxia announced that Kioxia's 256 GB and 512 GB UFS 3.1 chips, which have 30% improved random read and 40% improved random write compared to the predecessors, are being sampled.

3 August 2021 → Parade Technologies: Parade Technologies announces that the PS195 and the PS196 DisplayPort 2.0 to HDMI 2.1 converters are sampling now.

~July 2021~
Relevant news:
19 July 2021 → Nvidia: Nvidia publicly released the Nvidia DLSS SDK 2.2.1, which adds a sharpening slider, support for Linux, and an auto-exposure option, as well as brings bug fixes & stability Improvements. Nvidia DLSS SDK 2.2.1 is meant to be directly integrated into custom/proprietary engines.

5 July 2021 → Nintendo via Nintendo Everything: Shuntaro Furukawa mentioned that Nintendo is continuously working on development of hardware, software, and accessories, but he cannot comment on any specific products currently under development, referring to the shareholder's question about reports on the new Nintendo Switch model.

Relevant rumours:
24 July 2021 → Twitter: kopite7kimi mentions that Orin and Dane are using Samsung's 8N process node and the GPU on Orin and Dane is based on the Lovelace architecture.

10 July 2021 → ResetEra: NateDrake has heard from certain third party developers with access to the devkits with DLSS, which aren't the ADEV devkits, that Nintendo has touted the DLSS model* as a revision rather than next-gen hardware.

8 July 2021 → ResetEra: The reason why the DLSS model*'s SoC hasn't been taped out yet is because Nintendo's goals haven't been achieved in some way. (Multiple posts below post #15,590 have quoted the original post before it was redacted.)

Potentially relevant news:
28 July 2021 → JEDEC: JEDEC officially announces LPDDR5X, which has a speed extension of 8,533 MT/s, in comparison to 6,400 MT/s for LPDDR5.

~June 2021~
Relevant news:
29 June 2021 → 3DJuegos: Larian Studios Barcelona mentioned that Nintendo asked third party developers for feedback regarding potential future hardware upgrades. And Larian Studios Barcelona told Nintendo to bring out new hardware with more power and more memory, or risk having the new hardware become like the New Nintendo 3DS, being totally removed from the real world.

Potentially relevant news:
23 June 2021 → Lexar: Lexar announces the development of SD Express 7.0 and microSD 7.0 Express cards. Lexar's SD Express 7.0 and microSD 7.0 Express cards uses Silicon Motion's SM2708 controller chip, runs on the PCIe 3.0 interface, and can achieve up to 824 MB/s in sequential read speeds and 410 MB/s in sequential write speeds. The maximum capacity for Lexar's SD Express 7.0 and microSD 7.0 Express cards are 512 MB and 256 MB respectively. Lexar plans to launch the SD Express 7.0 and microSD 7.0 Express cards in 2022.

1 June 2021 → Micron: Micron announces that the company will be shipping the world's first 1α-node based LPDDR4X DRAM in volume on June 2021. Micron also announces the company is sampling 128 GB and 256 GB densities of Micron's 96-layer NAND for Micron UFS 3.1 for automotive applications. Micron UFS 3.1 offers 2x sequential read performance and 50% faster sequential write performance compared to Micron UFS 2.1.

Relevant rumours:
28 June 2021 → Twitter: kopite7kimi mentions that Dane, the codename for the DLSS model*'s SoC, is based on Samsung's 8 nm process node. And kopite7kimi mentions that Lovelace is roughly similar to Ampere, architecturally speaking.

11 June 2021 → Twitter: kopite7kimi reiterates that the GPU on the DLSS model*'s SoC is based on the Lovelace architecture.

10 June 2021 → Twitter: kopite7kimi claims that the DLSS model*'s SoC is a customised version of Orin, with the model number T239.

8 June 2021 → ResetEra: More developers are going to have access to the DLSS model*'s dev kits during the week of E3 2021.

~May 2021~
Potentially relevant news:
25 May 2021 → Arm via Anandtech: Arm officially announces the first consumer Armv9 CPUs, the Cortex-X2, the Cortex-A710, and the Cortex-A510.

Arm also announced a new L3 design called the DynamIQ Shared Unit-110 (DSU-110) that has up to 16 MB of L3 cache, has up to a 5x increase in aggregate bandwidth, and allows for the following CPU cluster configurations:

Mori Medinayo · Oct 1, 2021

Okay I take sit in the new "best thread" from the old forum.

OTBWY · Oct 1, 2021

Definitely wanna keep track of this one.

Josh5890 · Oct 1, 2021

This topic has been a lot more violent then I think it needs to be. Hopefully we can get clarity sometime in early 2022. I don't expect anything official from Nintendo this year.

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

Great OP, and good title. I'm only a LITTLE grumpy that you didn't pick "secret sauce made with 11 devs and spices"

Dragoncaine · Oct 1, 2021

I'm just relieved to escape from all the horrible, bad-faith takes from the new old place lmfao

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

So regarding the ML upscaling patents recently published:

From what I can tell of the patents themselves, they're pretty general machine learning upscaling techniques. Things like DLSS and FSR (AMD's version) are pretty well covered by what Nintendo is attempting to patent here. The patents have yet to undergo examination so it's unclear yet if they will eventually be granted a patent and if so what exactly their differentiating/novel features are.

So as of now the patent applications tell us two things:

1) Nintendo is working on DLSS-like upscaling on their own proprietary machine learning engine (confirmed to exist by NERD already who used it when developing Super Mario Sunshine for 3DAS)
2) They have been working on this since well before March 2020 (when the applications were filed), likely close to 6-9 months+ before then, so mid 2019

It's clear at this point that future hardware will use DLSS or Nintendo's version. And again, them working on this since 2019- but this only being publicly available knowledge as of September 30, 2021- suggests that the rumors of DLSS enhanced Nintendo hardware are absolutely true.

Mr_No_U · Oct 1, 2021

The Pro is still coming, just internally delayed due to obvious reasons. I can feel it.

Alovon11 · Oct 1, 2021

Approved and pinned the thread for watching.

But honestly, with the Patent going public, and with the timing of the Mochi Article, something is definitely up I feel.

I do still sort of feel a 2022 release is most likely primarily because of the production of Dane/Black Knight/T239, the idea of a Samsung 8nm SoC being released in 2023 is just a bit...wrong to me.

It just feels that if they are going for a 2023 release, they'd be better off redoing Dane to run on Samsung or TSMC 5nm to get past the DUV/EUV gap out of the gate (and take advantage of the full power of the Lovelace architecture on the node it's designed for)

Z0m3le · Oct 1, 2021

I think we will get news about Dane in 2 or 3 months

Rogue Agent · Oct 1, 2021

Z0m3le said:
I think we will get news about Dane in 2 or 3 months

Hopefully. I look forward to what we get in a few months. Next year's going to be exciting.

Jay_toon10 · Oct 1, 2021

That's an incredible OP right. I see some familiar name (from a lurker). This thread and the Nintendo threads ar the old place were my safe haven when I had covid earlier this year.
Reading Z0m3le ,Thraktor (is he here ), Skittzo and many other members posts helped me go through that difficult time .
Happy to see you all here
Also, I think another solid evidence that the next switch will have DLSS are the patents Nintendo filed , I don't see no other logical explanation to filed those if they don't intend to have the feature in an upcoming device

Falcatops · Oct 1, 2021

Hello my fellow speculators!

And thanks to Dakhil for creating the thread.
Can i suggest putting the rumors and news in the OP on monthly spoilers so as not too clutter too much?

On topic: the new patent gives credence that the new console will have some sort of AI accelerator, most probably from Nvidia

SlipperyFishes · Oct 1, 2021

Z0m3le said:
I think we will get news about Dane in 2 or 3 months

That would take us into December and thats traditionally a very quiet month for any announcements- probably some rumblings ahead of the CES in January though? While we won’t see any Nintendo hardware at that event we may see the technology somehow?

GravyFingerz · Oct 1, 2021

Skittzo said:
So regarding the ML upscaling patents recently published:

From what I can tell of the patents themselves, they're pretty general machine learning upscaling techniques. Things like DLSS and FSR (AMD's version) are pretty well covered by what Nintendo is attempting to patent here. The patents have yet to undergo examination so it's unclear yet if they will eventually be granted a patent and if so what exactly their differentiating/novel features are.

So as of now the patent applications tell us two things:

1) Nintendo is working on DLSS-like upscaling on their own proprietary machine learning engine (confirmed to exist by NERD already who used it when developing Super Mario Sunshine for 3DAS)
2) They have been working on this since well before March 2020 (when the applications were filed), likely close to 6-9 months+ before then, so mid 2019

It's clear at this point that future hardware will use DLSS or Nintendo's version. And again, them working on this since 2019- but this only being publicly available knowledge as of September 30, 2021- suggests that the rumors of DLSS enhanced Nintendo hardware are absolutely true.

Is there a reason Nintendo would use their own process over Nvidia DLSS? Does it have to do with their NVN api?

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

GravyFingerz said:
Is there a reason Nintendo would use their own process over Nvidia DLSS? Does it have to do with their NVN api?

I gave my best answer on era:

There are several possibilities. Keep in mind we've known for months now that NERD actually does have their own machine learning engine, as it was used to upscale the pre-rendered videos in Super Mario Sunshine.

1) Nintendo wants to have their own solution for future proofing, so that if they ever do split from Nvidia they will still be able to use ML upscaling
2) Nintendo built their own ML solution that plays better with their own internal engines
3) Nintendo built their own ML solution that plays better with older legacy content (for example Sunshine)
4) Nintendo built their own ML solution that plays better with their graphical style than general DLSS does

The patents do reference using Nvidia's tensor cores to implement the ML software solution, so yeah it does seem like the infrastructure used (at least in the short term) will be Nvidia's. But they seem to want full control over the algorithm

Jay_toon10 · Oct 1, 2021

I

Skittzo said:
I gave my best answer on era:

I think
1) is less likely seeing that they are on a long term partnership thus 2 and 3 sounds more plausible to me... certainly 3 as that would be helpful for old title re-release ( remasters and whatnot )

Helix · Oct 1, 2021

is it just me or was the Dane supposed to be an upgrade to the Switch but due to supply constraints and chip shortages, they are just spinning it off into a hypothetical "Switch 2" that is back compatible with the Switch and to release later down it's initial internal release plan.

It would also make sense as to why devs have exclusives being made for it as a new device needs some software that can be used as show pieces to advertise the new hardware.

Z0m3le · Oct 1, 2021

SlipperyFishes said:
That would take us into December and thats traditionally a very quiet month for any announcements- probably some rumblings ahead of the CES in January though? While we won’t see any Nintendo hardware at that event we may see the technology somehow?

It won't be any official announcement, I think tape out will happen around then, and when final hardware starts showing up early next year, things will start coming a lot faster

RailWays · Oct 1, 2021

Helix said:
is it just me or was the Dane supposed to be an upgrade to the Switch but due to supply constraints and chip shortages, they are just spinning it off into a hypothetical "Switch 2" that is back compatible with the Switch and to release later down it's initial internal release plan.

It would also make sense as to why devs have exclusives being made for it as a new device needs some software that can be used as show pieces to advertise the new hardware.

That's honestly what I'm thinking might have happened after the chip shortages became apparent. If I were to guess, it will probably be revealed late 2022 and released early 2023.

Vilifier · Oct 1, 2021

Helix said:
is it just me or was the Dane supposed to be an upgrade to the Switch but due to supply constraints and chip shortages, they are just spinning it off into a hypothetical "Switch 2" that is back compatible with the Switch and to release later down it's initial internal release plan.

It would also make sense as to why devs have exclusives being made for it as a new device needs some software that can be used as show pieces to advertise the new hardware.

That's what I'm thinking as well. It sounds like there's enough confirmations that a 4k Switch is being tested. The OLED model seems like enough of an upgrade for players until the Switch 2 comes out.

I wonder if the Steam Deck will have any affect on Nintendo's release plans. They haven't really had any direct competition in the space since the Vita.

Red Monster · Oct 1, 2021

Nintendo wouldn’t announce a new revision (Dane) so close after the launch of the OLED, would they?

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

Jay_toon10 said:
That's an incredible OP right. I see some familiar name (from a lurker). This thread and the Nintendo threads ar the old place were my safe haven when I had covid earlier this year.
Reading Z0m3le ,Thraktor (is he here ), Skittzo and many other members posts helped me go through that difficult time .
Happy to see you all here
Also, I think another solid evidence that the next switch will have DLSS are the patents Nintendo filed , I don't see no other logical explanation to filed those if they don't intend to have the feature in an upcoming device

I'm glad to hear our discussions helped you out. It always makes me happy to read that the time I spend here can sometimes really help people.

Jay_toon10 · Oct 1, 2021

@Red Monster They wouldn't, my guess would be around this very same time next year

Dakhil · Oct 1, 2021

The week of 3 October 2021 will be a very busy one.

There's Samsung Foundry Forum 2021 from 6-8 October 2021.

And 8 October 2021 is the launch day for the OLED model. So hopefully nobody has to wait too long for a complete teardown; and hopefully the questions about whether or not the OLED model's dock has a new DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip based on the Aula datamine rumours, and how close to 100% accurate are the Aula datamine rumours, will be answered.

GravyFingerz · Oct 1, 2021

Skittzo said:
I gave my best answer on era:

Thank you very much for posting your era post here.

Mercury_Sagit · Oct 1, 2021

Regarding the merit of in-house upscaling solution vs DLSS, I found this part in Nintendo's patent registration interesting

Perhaps Nintendo wants to optimize its neural net toward the target hardware (Dane) as much as possible with regards to latency between computation steps. Such level of optimization may exceed what DLSS offers.

A counterpoint though is that NVIDIA itself is also not new to this approach. The following paper shows the added value of using neural networks which are optimized toward register size to accelerate ray-tracing compared to using ones made from common framework (e.g. Tensorflow): https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/on-demand/session/gtcspring21-e31307/ (the pdf version can be googled with keyword: "fully fused neural net")

But still, I don't really see any other ground Nintendo would have to file this patent, since the wording is very generic and what the filed technology can do here has already been achieved by DLSS.

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

Mercury_Sagit said:
Regarding the merit of in-house upscaling solution vs DLSS, I found this part in Nintendo's patent registration interesting

Perhaps Nintendo wants to optimize its neural net toward the target hardware (Dane) as much as possible with regards to latency between computation steps. Such level of optimization may exceed what DLSS offers.

A counterpoint though is that NVIDIA itself is also not new to this approach. The following paper shows the added value of using neural networks which are optimized toward register size to accelerate ray-tracing compared to using ones made from common framework (e.g. Tensorflow): https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/on-demand/session/gtcspring21-e31307/ (the pdf version can be googled with keyword: "fully fused neural net")

But still, I don't really see any other ground Nintendo would have to file this patent, since the wording is very generic and what the filed technology can do here has already been achieved by DLSS.

They can file whatever they want, it's just very possible that what they file isn't granted.

However, patent rules have a lot to do with timing. They filed this in March 2020, and it's possible that they have a provisional patent application filed even earlier (I have yet to check on that), so according to patent law any prior art publicly known within a year before filing (aka between March 2020 and March 2019) would not be suitable in order to read on their claims. The examiner would need to find something publicly dated before March 25, 2019 in order to fully reject these claims.

So since DLSS is relatively new, especially DLSS 2.0, this patent application filing might actually allow them to claim their solution predated DLSS 2.0's first public appearance.

However I don't know enough about when DLSS or other AI upscaling was publicly detailed or whether Nvidia or AMD or Intel have filed their own patent applications for this and if so when.

Mercury_Sagit · Oct 1, 2021

Skittzo said:
They can file whatever they want, it's just very possible that what they file isn't granted.

However, patent rules have a lot to do with timing. They filed this in March 2020, and it's possible that they have a provisional patent application filed even earlier (I have yet to check on that), so according to patent law any prior art publicly known within a year before filing (aka between March 2020 and March 2019) would not be suitable in order to read on their claims. The examiner would need to find something publicly dated before March 25, 2019 in order to fully reject these claims.

So since DLSS is relatively new, especially DLSS 2.0, this patent application filing might actually allow them to claim their solution predated DLSS 2.0's first public appearance.

However I don't know enough about when DLSS or other AI upscaling was publicly detailed or whether Nvidia or AMD or Intel have filed their own patent applications for this and if so when.

AMD published its patent for FSR around May 2021, Sony also did for one of its own around July 2020. Strangely enough I did not manage to find NV's registered patent for DLSS. Also no idea about Intel's XeSS as well.

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

Mercury_Sagit said:
AMD published its patent for FSR around May 2021, Sony also did for one of its own around July 2020. Strangely enough I did not manage to find NV's registered patent for DLSS. Also no idea about Intel's XeSS as well.

It would be absurd if Nintendo manages to have the first patent on machine learning upscaling.

Pokemaniac · Oct 1, 2021

Skittzo said:
It would be absurd if Nintendo manages to have the first patent on machine learning upscaling.

I think software patents are somewhat absurd as a category, but that's a sort of a different discussion.

Skittzo · Oct 1, 2021

Pokemaniac said:
I think software patents are somewhat absurd as a category, but that's a sort of a different discussion.

As someone who works with patents for a living, you will not get any argument from me.

Pokemaniac · Oct 1, 2021

So there's not a whole lot of good shots of the board, but this video does have a teardown of the dock.

Notably, there's an ARM microcontroller in there, which is probably what the firmware is for.

Jersh · Oct 1, 2021

Pokemaniac said:
So there's not a whole lot of good shots of the board, but this video does have a teardown of the dock.

Notably, there's an ARM microcontroller in there, which is probably what the firmware is for.

I wish he showed or gave the Ethernet controller model number; I'm curious if Nintendo just integrated the AX88179 (the controller used in the licensed and all compatible USB LAN adapters) like I suspect.

I've also given up on anyone looking for the HDMI speed rating before I get my hands on a unit myself on the 8th lol

Dakhil · Oct 1, 2021

Pokemaniac said:
So there's not a whole lot of good shots of the board, but this video does have a teardown of the dock.

Notably, there's an ARM microcontroller in there, which is probably what the firmware is for.

The Arm microcontroller chip is labelled as the following for anyone who wants to do some research on it:
ARM STM32F070
R8T6
AA087 9U
TWN AA 113

Pokemaniac · Oct 1, 2021

Jersh said:
I wish he showed or gave the Ethernet controller model number; I'm curious if Nintendo just integrated the AX88179 (the controller used in the licensed and all compatible USB LAN adapters) like I suspect.

I've also given up on anyone looking for the HDMI speed rating before I get my hands on a unit myself on the 8th lol

I think someone sent one to Gamer Nexus. Assuming the dock was included, Steve will probably be a bit more thorough, at least.

Z0m3le · Oct 1, 2021

Spawnwave will be tearing down the OLED model next Friday.

Dakhil · Oct 1, 2021

Pokemaniac said:
I think someone sent one to Gamer Nexus. Assuming the dock was included, Steve will probably be a bit more thorough, at least.

Yes, Austin Evans mentioned at 10:04 in the video below that he was going to put the OLED model back together and ship it to Steve Burke.

bmfrosty · Oct 1, 2021

And there it is. Hopefully this version of the thread gets fewer drive-bys.

Look over there · Oct 1, 2021

Vilifier said:
That's what I'm thinking as well. It sounds like there's enough confirmations that a 4k Switch is being tested. The OLED model seems like enough of an upgrade for players until the Switch 2 comes out.

I wonder if the Steam Deck will have any affect on Nintendo's release plans. They haven't really had any direct competition in the space since the Vita.

I doubt that the Steam Deck impacts Nintendo's plans. Different target demographics + supply won't be there to really be competition for a couple of years at least.

garf02 · Oct 2, 2021

Red Monster said:
Nintendo wouldn’t announce a new revision (Dane) so close after the launch of the OLED, would they?

not this close, also depending on Sales by the end of fiscal year, do they even need a revision? I feel they are in the position to just roll with what they have and rather than a Pro just wait till the cycle ends and jump straight to a new console.

Switch is an Oddity depends how you look at it, Nintendo has not have a "pro" model since the N64 Expansion Pack, for its consoles (GC, Wii, WiiU) but on the other hand, GB had GBC, GBA had GBA Mini, DS had DSi, 3DS had more kids than 2 rabbits.

Dakhil · Oct 2, 2021

Pokemaniac said:
So there's not a whole lot of good shots of the board, but this video does have a teardown of the dock.

Notably, there's an ARM microcontroller in there, which is probably what the firmware is for.

Rewatching the video, and looking at IFixIt's Nintendo Switch teardown, the area where the new DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip would be located according to the Aula datamine rumours is covered by a heatsink (on the lower left side), so there needs to be a much more thorough teardown of the OLED model's dock (meaning the heatsink must be removed) in order to see whether there's a new DisplayPort to HDMI converter chip or not.

(The Nintendo Switch's dock's motherboard is on the left. And the OLED model's dock's motherboard is on the right.)

Herb Alpert · Oct 2, 2021

bmfrosty said:
And there it is. Hopefully this version of the thread gets fewer drive-bys.

Hey, hopefully. We can't part ways forever, this time it's Nintendo and sales era doing their own forums, but what would happen if drama occured here ?
SNES famiboards would Split and do their own thing ? Or maybe week-end famiboards ?

SiG · Oct 2, 2021

Herb Alpert said:
Hey, hopefully. We can't part ways forever, this time it's Nintendo and sales era doing their own forums, but what would happen if drama occured here ?
SNES famiboards would Split and do their own thing ? Or maybe week-end famiboards ?

There will be drama over the nomeclature of "Switch Pro" vs "Super (Nintendo) Switch" vs "Switch Plus"...and then Nintendo will brand it something entirely different.

Falcatops · Oct 2, 2021

Seeing that this interesting thread usually talks about transistors, EUV, nanometers and other technical jargon, I would like to share this recent video from Curious Droid, in case someone wants to know a little bit more about one of the most revolutionary inventions of the past century: the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor, also known as MOSFET.

The video touches upon what is a transistor, how they work, their invention, the vacuum valves that came before them, what is Moore's Law, future challenges for foundries and much more. I really recommend it if you have a few minutes to spare during a bathroom break for example. Cheers!

Glom · Oct 2, 2021

After what happened earlier this year, are we really going to do this again, getting psyched for imminent Switch Pro announcement? I don't think even the latest Bloomberg article suggested anything was going to happen for another year at best.

ReddDreadtheLead · Oct 2, 2021

I’m here now

Skittzo · Oct 2, 2021

Glom said:
After what happened earlier this year, are we really going to do this again, getting psyched for imminent Switch Pro announcement? I don't think even the latest Bloomberg article suggested anything was going to happen for another year at best.

Nobody is expecting anything to be officially announced anytime soon. Not sure where you're seeing that.

ika · Oct 2, 2021

So nice to see this thread here, one of the few I had permanently tabbed on my browser and so nice to see many old faces that provided great insight and knowledge. Luckily the drive by and bad faith posting wont be as prevalent.

Pooroomoo · Oct 2, 2021

Glom said:
After what happened earlier this year, are we really going to do this again, getting psyched for imminent Switch Pro announcement? I don't think even the latest Bloomberg article suggested anything was going to happen for another year at best.

Read the thread title, that is the subject of the thread. No one is expecting anything this year.

StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation and Discussion |ST| "Oh Black Knight, Tape Me Out to Denmark!"

2010 experience points!

Cappy

Retro Game Collector

Moblin

Bob-omb

Octorok

Bob-omb

Garbage Galaxy Representative

Rattata

Rattata

Rattata

Rattata

Cappy

Hey

Gravy Boat Captain

Bob-omb

Rattata

Unsundered Amaurotine

Rattata

GF Commander

Rattata

Rawr

Bob-omb

Rattata

2010 experience points!

Gravy Boat Captain

┏(‘▀_▀’)ノ♬♪

Bob-omb

┏(‘▀_▀’)ノ♬♪

Bob-omb

Caught: 898

Bob-omb

Caught: 898

Tektite

2010 experience points!

Caught: 898

Rattata

2010 experience points!

wins the battle!

Rattata

Cappy

2010 experience points!

Insert clever pun here

Piranha Plant

Cappy

Cappy

Cappy

Bob-omb

Rattata

Triangulum Strategem