A 4K Nintendo Switch Pro in 2021? And more tech news you need to know today!

Your tech news digest, by way of the DGiT Daily tech newsletter, for Tuesday, 25 August 2020.

1. A 4K Nintendo Switch Pro in 2021?

A new Nintendo Switch has long been rumored, and continues to look like it may happen.

Now, Bloomberg is reporting that a Nintendo Switch upgrade rumored for at least the last 18 months or so may actually still be happening, just in 2021.

• That follows earlier reporting in Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, around new console plans for Nintendo.
• Bloomberg weighing in does add some meat to the leaks, but interestingly while the translation out of Taipei indicates a Q1 2021 release, Bloomberg doesn’t have a timeframe.
• It all does track with what was being reported across the past in terms of multiple new Switch devices: a Pro model and a cut-down model.
• We did see the Nintendo Switch Lite in September 2019, while the Pro never quite made it. There was a small improvement in RAM and system-on-a-chip specs in a small, unbranded, quiet upgrade to the Switch, which didn’t change any real features.
• (The buyer’s guide to a Nintendo Switch notes that if your Switch’s model number is HAC-001(-01) and its serial number starts with “XKW”, it’s the late 2019 model with a little more battery life under the hood.)

A Nintendo Switch Pro?

• Bloomberg now claims that Nintendo is considering upgrades, noting “the Kyoto-based company has looked into including more computing power and 4K high-definition graphics.”
• Which leaves quite a few questions around how 4K graphics would be rendered, plus the need to add 4K output via HDMI, possibly in the dock.
• Actually, my money isn’t on 4K. A handheld device doing 4K native resolution would need some serious power and the Switch just isn’t built that way. What’s more likely is working with NVIDIA (which makes the Switch SoC) on upscaling.
• Or the dock is radically different, with graphics processing built-in somehow, but that sounds all a bit fiddly.
• In any case, the leaks hardly suggest anything concrete, so there’s a way to go here.
• What does align is that Nintendo has some blockbuster major titles to get to. Announced years ago were games like Metroid Prime 4 and the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
• With the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 sure to get a lot of attention, it’s possible Nintendo is looking at creating another model with additional features to drive more sales.
• And it’s definitely Nintendo to do different models of the same base hardware. The 3DS and the Wii had variants.
• 2021 at the earliest: Nintendo explicitly ruled out new Switch hardware in 2020 when discussing its earnings back in January.
• In any case, I’m taking it all with a few grains of salt given how early these reports look to be.

2. Well, it’s not out yet, but the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 has appeared in an early hands-on review, with comparisons to the original (Android Authority).

3. ASUS Zenfone 7 leaks hint at the return of the flip-up camera: Samsung tried this kind of thing with its A80 phone, but not sure it ever took off? (Android Authority).

4. Galaxy Note 20 teardowns show higher prices don’t make for easier repairs, and there’s also a mystery around the graphite cooling in some phones (Android Authority).

5. A drop test shows the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (with new Gorilla Glass Victus) holding up much better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Will the iPhone 12 use Gorilla Glass Victus? (Android Authority).

6. TikTok sues US government to challenge President Trump’s ban (Android Authority).

7. Epic vs Apple: A small win for Epic, with judge ruling to protect the Unreal Engine on iOS via restraining order, but left Fortnite out: “Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders,” the judge wrote. And yeah, half of the 1,000 or so most popular games use the Unreal platform (The Verge).

8. Q: Is the iPhone upgrade program a good deal? A: It depends. Sorry, it really does (Lifehacker)

9. Apple confirms iPhone SE 2020 is now ‘Assembled in India’ for local customers (MacRumors).

10. Apple reportedly acquires VR startup Spaces, which puts real faces on virtual avatars in non-horrifying ways (9to5Mac). On that note: Foxconn, Pegatron, and other Asian firms considering Mexico factories as China risks grow (Reuters).

11. Corsair Gaming is a billion-dollar company, and everything else we spotted in the fresh S-1 IPO filing (The Verge).

12. The Colorado startup dreaming up a return to supersonic flight: Boom Supersonic hopes to test-fly its supersonic plane in 2021 (Engadget).

13. The wild world of vehicle camouflage (video) (CNET).

14. Inside the sprint to map the Murder Hornet genome (Wired).

15. “What old video games do you still play regularly?” (r/askreddit). This has a truly extraordinary 55,000 comments. Enjoy!

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