Nintendo Switch to run 60% slower in handheld mode

Leaked specifications on Nintendo’s Switch console have revealed that the Switch will drop its GPU performance by up to 60 per cent when the console, which can function both as a handheld or slotted into a dock and used in a more traditional way plugged into a display, is taken away from its docking station.

We don’t know much official details about the Nintendo Switch. We know it’ll work in a variety of configurations, and Nintendo have already admitted that the device is based around a tablet form-factor that’s powered with one of Nvidia’s Tegra chips. The rest of the specifications have been held back, probably for the event Nintendo claim will properly unveil the new console in January.

However, Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry have got their hands on the actual specs and according to sources that Eurogamer claim to have verified, the Switch will drastically switch things up under the hood depending on whether you’re using it handheld or docked.

You can see the actual specs in their article, and it’s quite a read, the biggest question now is how developers will use a console that occasionally runs at just 40% of its capacity. When Docked, the Tegra chip will run at 768MHz, but when in handheld and running from the battery it’ll be limited to 307.2MHz. Developers will likely not want to program two different versions of the game, so it’s more like instead that it’ll use this extra power when docked for variable resolutions and little more.

As ever though, Nintendo haven’t commented on the leak, and we can’t really do more than just make informed guesses until January.