As we saw last week, Nintendo was planning on adding a few minor revisions to the original Nintendo Switch model, to go alongside the launch of the Switch Lite. Now, we have official confirmation and details from Nintendo on the slight refresh to the line. The new Switch will be given the model number of HAC-001(-01), and will feature an improved battery life. For comparisons sake, the original Switch that launched on March 3, 2017 (model HAC-001) could get about 2.5 to 6.5 hours, and about three hours when playing Breath of the Wild, while the Switch Lite (Model HDH-001) could get just around half an hour more battery life. The upcoming new-old Switch will offer 4.5-9 hours total, with Breath of the Wild likely being playable for 5.5 hours on a full charge. According to Nintendo's official site, these revamped models will have a new serial number, starting with "XKW", and will have a new box design, sporting an overall red color. Nintendo of Japan will be launching these around the end of August, which means the west will likely follow suit shortly after. In the aforementioned previous post, we saw that Nintendo had filed with the FCC to sell a Nintendo Switch that had a slightly modified SoC and storage, which will likely be the case with this HAC-001(-01) console.

Complimenting this reveal is the announcement of two new Joy-Con colorations. Blue and Neon Yellow and Neon Purple and Neon Orange will be releasing on store shelves on October 4th, for typical MSRP.

Source
Battery Comparisons

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

That's a nice excuse to continue charging full MSRP. ;O;

But meh. That's nice I guess for people who don't already have a Switch, but nothing super special for anyone else.

 

[kumikochan]

but... the analog stick on the vita is fine and doesn't drift after a week of use?? you can reliably shrink stuff like this without it becoming as durable as a feather

no it doesn't drift but you can hardly call it an analog stick. I love the Vita and use it tons more as a handheld than i do with the switch but the vita stick is more like a round disk thingy that moves instead of being a real stick. It doesn't even have the stick portion in you know analag stick, it's just a moving round disk thingy

 

[Foxi4]

but... the analog stick on the vita is fine and doesn't drift after a week of use?? you can reliably shrink stuff like this without it becoming as durable as a feather

Let's have a looksie...

See the similarities? This is not an accident, I bet. To be fair, they could change the resin in the carbon race to a slightly harder one, but experience is telling me that the wear and tear on those sticks is more a matter of how the user uses them, as well as the angle at which they're held more than anything else. I thought what the OP meant was a failure of the plastic itself, which they can't do much about besides changing the material completely, they can tweak some things regarding drift, which is an electrical issue. I personally never had a problem with my joycons, and I have a Day 1 model, although admittedly I use it very light duty.

 

[Deleted User]

Let's have a looksie...
View attachment 173306 View attachment 173307
See the similarities? This is not an accident, I bet. To be fair, they could change the resin in the carbon race to a slightly harder one, but experience is telling me that the wear and tear on those sticks is more a matter of how the user uses them, as well as the angle at which they're held more than anything else. I thought what the OP meant was a failure of the plastic itself, which they can't do much about - they can tweak some things regarding drift, which is an electrical issue. I personally never had a problem with my joycons, and I have a Day 1 model, although admittedly I use it very light duty.

i have 3 pairs of joycons and all 3 left joycons have drift on the sticks rip

 

[SecureBoot]

Made trade in my current switch and upgrade. I bet I can get around $225 for the one I have and get the new one for essentially $75

 

[CoupureElectrique]

Gonna keep waiting for something more worthwhile

 

[Waygeek]

if it be only the battery who cares for half an hour

Not surprised someone who thinks the blue/red and purple/orange combos are ugly also can't count

3ds all over again where there's multiple different versions with the same box, who knows if you get a revision 1 or a revision 2, or whatever else they throw at us

????? Can people do a bit of reading/research before posting please? Not only is the packaging different, they have been completely transparent about the serial differences the new units are getting, something I've not seen many companies do before...

 

[Rahkeesh]

Actually I'm not sure I put it past Nintendo to allow devs to use higher docked clocks. The battery life advertisement suggests they won't have that option for handheld mode, probably to keep the experience consistent between lite and standard, but they could add like a "docked new" profile that they don't bother telling the public about. Or perhaps they only start advertising the feature once the stock of OG switches is gone and games start supporting it. Maybe that is what the Samurai Showdown devs were referring to. Grasping at straws here but hope dies eternal...

 

[Bladexdsl]

bah call me when the real switch pro is out

 

[duwen]

I'll continue waiting for the mains-only/battery-free, screenless, dockless, joycon-less, "home console" variant that comes with a pro controller, with overclocked performance for the same price (if not less than the price) of the Switch Light.

 

[FAST6191]

The new Joycons look ghastly, but the extra hour of battery life suggests a die shrink, unless they magically got 20% more efficient, which I doubt. I wasn't so sure if the die was shrunk with the details they showed about the Lite, but now it's much more clear.

I would have thought that they would have shouted that from the rooftops, though this is Nintendo and their cagey nature about tech specs is probably second only to them wanting to do the family friendly thing or miss the point of the let's play set.

I would probably sooner go with they found someone willing to sell them higher rated batteries* for a price they can deal with -- for as much as a giant bastard as the Switch thing is (step 11 for those unfamiliar https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nintendo+Switch+Battery+Replacement/112995 ) to only get 16Wh is a bit low when compared to contemporary stuff seen in phones.

*whether better designs/chemistry or just not binning them lower is a different matter.

On the other hand I don't know what to read into the talk of battery life and game runtimes. For other companies it would mean something but here I am not sure.

 

[Treeko]

I don't understand why people need a pro model? If anything Nintendo should focus on next generation of their console than work on a pro model of the switch, we saw how the Pro/X worked out for Sony/Microsoft both consoles didn't even sell half the original/slim models numbers, could a pro switch happen? Sure Nintendo isn't alien to that idea but they have never upgraded their home console hardware, to me these look like probably the last hardware upgrade for the switch for a while, besides even if Nintendo were to make a switch pro it'd be overlooked by next gen PS5/Xbox, Nintendo don't wanna compete with that and rightly so, no matter how much Nintendo upgrade the hardware and actually split their playerbase which would be very negative for Nintendo especially third party wise it will not come close to the specs of the next gen boxes, making a pro model would be essentially a waste for Nintendo.

Only way I see a Pro model being real is if it were home console only, which means they wouldn't have to care about handheld and heat dissipation which holds the current models back significantly compared to what the tegra X1 can achieve, I wouldn't expect anything huge like 1080p gaming in handheld or significantly increased performance in handheld mode either, Nintendo are probably saving those things for the next gen console.

 

[nWo]

The new joycons are more durable? Or are exactly what we know, in a new color?

 

[Xabring]

I freking Knew It...sort of! Improved battery life! That's MASSIVE!

 

[Frankbel]

This news is quite disappointing.

 

[smf]

They might run more reliably with overclocking, if they use less power they probably run cooler.

 

[Foxi4]

I would have thought that they would have shouted that from the rooftops, though this is Nintendo and their cagey nature about tech specs is probably second only to them wanting to do the family friendly thing or miss the point of the let's play set.

I would probably sooner go with they found someone willing to sell them higher rated batteries* for a price they can deal with -- for as much as a giant bastard as the Switch thing is (step 11 for those unfamiliar https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nintendo+Switch+Battery+Replacement/112995 ) to only get 16Wh is a bit low when compared to contemporary stuff seen in phones.

*whether better designs/chemistry or just not binning them lower is a different matter.

On the other hand I don't know what to read into the talk of battery life and game runtimes. For other companies it would mean something but here I am not sure.

Nah, die shrinks are done on the down low, just look at the PS4 Slim and the Xbox One S. It's the same die, it's just that AMD changed the process node, so they necessarily had to adjust. From what I've heard the new Tegras were shrunk, so there's a good chance that longer battery life is a byproduct of that. They're probably getting rid of the old model in the budget Switch Lite which suspiciously has very similar battery life to the original, and effectively only runs a smidge longer because it doesn't have to trickle charge the joycon cells. I guess we'll see, but that's my guess - both possibilities are equally likely.

 

[Something whatever]

Sick, I can experience Joycon Drift with brand new colors and longer battery life now.

 

[WiiHomebrew+Snes]

I need double neon orange, reminds me of the spice Gamecube/GBA stuff lol

 

[SSG Vegeta]

If this is the Switch Pro then it's a disappointment I'm glad that I'm buying the Switch Lite.