Nintendo Switch 2 Specs Revealed
Official hardware details of the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 have been confirmed, revealing significant upgrades over its predecessor. According to Digital Foundry, the new console will feature a custom Nvidia SoC built around the Ampere GPU architecture , 12GB of memory, and 256GB of internal storage.
At the heart of the system is an eight-core CPU based on ARM’s Cortex-A78C design, supporting the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set with added cryptographic extensions. Each core has access to a multi-layered cache system: 64KB L1 instruction, 64KB L1 data, 256KB L2 per core, and a shared 4MB L3 cache across all cores.
Of the eight CPU cores, six are allocated for games , while the remaining two are reserved for the operating system — a design choice similar to the current Switch and other modern consoles like the PS5. The CPU clocks at a maximum of 1.7 GHz, but Nintendo has chosen to underclock it to 1.1 GHz in handheld mode and 998 MHz when docked .
The GPU , based on Nvidia’s Ampere architecture (the same used in the RTX 30-series), includes 1,536 CUDA cores . While capable of hitting up to 1,400 MHz, the Switch 2 limits it to 561 MHz in portable mode and 1,007 MHz in docked mode . This puts its performance close to a mobile RTX 2050, though slightly reduced in both CUDA core count and clock speeds.
With Ampere onboard, the Switch 2 supports real-time ray tracing and DLSS — features previously limited to high-end PCs and modern consoles. While no titles have officially announced ray tracing support yet, demos suggest it’s technically possible. DLSS, however, is already confirmed in several upcoming games, including Cyberpunk 2077 , which will use advanced resolution scaling through DLSS — a rare feature even on PC.
For memory, the console uses 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM split into two 6GB modules, running at 2,133 MHz (68 GB/s bandwidth) in handheld mode and 3,200 MHz (102 GB/s) when docked. Out of this, 9GB is available for games , with 3GB reserved for the OS.
Storage includes 256GB of UFS flash memory , expandable via a microSD Express slot supporting cards up to 2TB. A dedicated decompression unit within the SoC accelerates data loading from storage using the LZ4 compression format , commonly used in Nintendo’s NSP game files.
The Nintendo Switch 2 marks a major leap forward since the original launched back in 2017. It’s scheduled to launch on June 5, 2025 , at a price of $449 .