Nintendo Switch 2 hardware chip was apparently finalized in 2021

Geekerwan and Kurnal recently conducted forensic analysis of a Nintendo Switch 2 T239 chip which seems to indicate that the hardware was finalized in 2021.

As for how this information has surfaced, a few of the console’s motherboards appeared on Chinese online retail stores. Geekerwan and Kurnal were both able to buy them and begin testing even though we’re still a few weeks away from the official launch.

Based on the analysis from Geekerwan and Kurnal, and with Digital Foundry summarizing their findings, it appears that the Nintendo Switch chip “is on an 8nm process, perhaps even with 10nm features.” It comes in at 207mm2, which is bigger than the 166mm2 in the launch Steam Deck. Interestingly, the processor is 75 percent bigger than the original Nintendo Switch and has twice the area of the processor in future models like the Switch Lite.

Since the chip with the T239 processor was “taped out”, it appears that the design was finished in 2021. One comparison shared by Geekerwan is the NVIDIA GA107 processor, which was another 8nm product that was taped out in 2020 and released in various GPUs in 2021.

This information may have ties to Switch Pro rumors that were rather prominent a few years ago. Digital Foundry points out: “With the benefit of hindsight, it now seems plausible that the Switch Pro was an amalgamation of rumors: a combination of the Switch OLED model and formative work on the console that’ll finally hit stores on June 5 this year.”

A variety of factors may have contributed to Nintendo Switch 2 launching in 2025 even if the hardware was finalized years prior. There was the continued success of Switch 1, the unpredictable covid pandemic, and production costs for the T239 processor decreasing over the years.