Nintendo may be planning to release a new model of the Nintendo Switch according to some new changes introduced in the console’s new firmware 5.0 update.
Earlier this week, Nintendo Switch firmware 5.0 was released. The latest update to the console’s operating system introduced several new features and updates including a fix for the Switch playtime deletion issue and the introduction of two dozen new user icons including icons based on games like ARMS. But that’s not all that people have discovered in the update.
The Nintendo Switch hacking and development community has begun to dig into the code of the new firmware and they have made an interesting discovery. On SwitchBrew, a community-run Wikipedia page based on Switch homebrew development, it has been noted that in firmware 5.0, a new folder “a” was added, in addition to the existing “nx” folder, containing a separate “bct” and “package1.” Both of these seem encrypted/meant for the new “Mariko” hardware that support was added for.” Firmware 5.0 also adds a configuration for the T214 (Tegra 214) central processing unit (CPU), although the Nintendo Switch currently uses the Tegra 210 CPU.
The community has taken this as evidence that Nintendo is planning a hardware revision for the Nintendo Switch that will use the Tegra 214 CPU instead of the Tegra 210 and that the Tegra 210 will be phased out altogether. The current system on a chip used for the Nintendo Switch includes a vulnerability which makes the console vulnerable to hacks and this vulnerability will remain in all future versions of the Switch that uses the same system on a chip. By switching to another CPU, Nintendo can solve the problem.
According to recent reports, Nintendo is not planning to release a Nintendo Switch 2 or a Nintendo Switch Mini any time soon. But the difference of CPU is not such a major hardware revision and the company may feel that it is necessary to change the inner technology of the console in order to handle the hacking problem. It didn’t take hackers long to crack the Switch, after all, and Nintendo is finally ready to put its foot down.
The fact that Nintendo is pulling out the big guns to put a stop to hacking comes as little surprise, especially given that the company also hosts a Nintendo Switch bug bounty program which offers thousands of dollars to those who identify flaws and vulnerabilities with the console. So while the decision to introduce a new Switch CPU may seem like a drastic measure, it is actually just one weapon in Nintendo’s anti-hacking arsenal.
