Switch 2 OLED rumours land at the worst possible time

If you thought Nintendo was done squeezing your wallet after the Switch 2 price hike, ZDNET Korea has some news that’ll test your patience further. Three sources have told the outlet that Nintendo is quietly working on an OLED edition of the Switch 2, and Samsung is reportedly on screen duty again.

A brighter screen, same resolution

The rumoured panel would keep the same 1080p FHD resolution as the launch model, just brighter, and if the timeline holds, it wouldn’t land until late 2027 or early 2028. As Nintendo Life spotted when picking up the story, there’s no word yet on whether the screen would grow beyond the current 7.9 inches, though the Switch 2’s slim bezels don’t leave much room to play with.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. The original Switch got its OLED refresh four years after launch in 2021, and it worked a treat, convincing plenty of people to buy the same console twice just for a nicer screen. A three-year gap this time round would actually be quicker than that.

Terrible timing, given everything else

Except we’re not in normal circumstances. Six-year-old consoles are getting price hikes instead of slim, cheaper re-releases, genAI-driven component shortages are making hardware more expensive to build, and Nintendo only just raised Switch 2 prices less than a year after launch. Launching a pricier OLED model into that mess feels like a gamble.

There’s also the small matter of the Switch 2’s screen already being genuinely good, miles ahead of the murky LCD panel on the original Switch. That makes the upgrade case weaker than it was in 2021. Still, better is better, and Nintendo knows temptation sells consoles.

None of ZD Korea’s sources mentioned pricing, unsurprising given this apparently isn’t even in active development yet. Expect radio silence from Nintendo until it’s ready to talk, probably with a few months’ notice at most. History suggests they don’t like giving leakers the satisfaction.

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