Happy Nintendo Switch 2 launch day to all who celebrate! While I wouldn't swap my rig for anything, I do just so happen to be watching my tracking information like a hawk while I wait for the postie today. So, despite my better judgement, I'll be saying 'um, actually' to another thing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said in the meantime.
The Switch 2 features a "custom processor made by Nvidia" according to the official tech specs, so Huang recently spoke about Nintendo and Nvidia's collaborative relationship in a recent Nintendo Creator’s Voice Special Edition. During this victory lap video, Jensen claims the Switch 2's custom Nvidia processor offers "the most advanced graphics ever in a mobile device"—conveniently forgetting that gaming laptops are also a thing and they're pretty mobile, too.
Granted, the official tech specs are deliberately vague about the processor's full capabilities, making any direct comparison tricky. However, an enthusiastic teardown by Geekerwan suggests performance that may well be comparable to the Steam Deck's GPU.
Nvidia has also said in the past that the Switch 2 chip represents "1,000 engineer-years of effort across every element," and features, "an Nvidia GPU with dedicated RT Cores and Tensor Cores for stunning visuals and AI-driven enhancements."
The capabilities Huang does go on to list in the aforementioned promotional video are also impressive for a handheld console costing less than $500, and to be totally fair to the Switch 2, I never thought I'd see either "full hardware ray-tracing" or Cyberpunk 2077 on a Nintendo console. Still, it's wild to position the Switch 2 as a pint-sized powerhouse that puts all other mobile devices to shame.
For instance, our Dave took a deep dive into Nvidia's own RTX 5090 mobile processor back in March. With RTX 50-series laptops coming in hot, I'm finding it hard to believe the Switch 2 will leave all of that hardware in the dust.
To be very clear, I'm not at all trying to imply the comment that the Switch 2 possesses "the most advanced graphics ever in a mobile device" is a genuine mistake on Huang's part. When I offer an 'um, actually' in response to something said by Jensen Huang, it's only to gently encourage the thought that perhaps one shouldn't take the words of a company's CEO 100% at face value.
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