Nintendo Switch 2 has just got its first teardown — here's what we learned
Today's the day many a gamer has been waiting for. The Nintendo Switch 2 has officially been released, meaning everyone that was lucky enough to pre-order the console should be receiving it.
But while most people will be off playing Mario Kart World, others are diving into the Switch 2 to see what the console is made of — literally. The first teardown of the console has made its way online courtesy of ProModding and it's an interesting watch.
This is able to show us exactly what's inside the Switch 2's interior and how the console has been put together. While it doesn't delve into specifics like repairability, there are some insights to be gleaned from the teardown.
Right at the very end of the video ProModding notes a few key details about the phone. One of the most important is that the screen has the same film as the Switch OLED, and it's already been widely reported that you should not remove this. Not if you want the screen to actually work in handheld mode.
The Joy-Cons also sit tighter than they do on the original Switch, but they can still be wobbled slightly. The thermal paste is also the same as that on the original console, which ProModding notes means that the gray paste will have dried out in around a year and a half.
The Verge notes that people have replaced the thermal paste on their original Switch consoles for better performance, and that may be something that the more intrepid Switch 2 owners start doing in the near future — after the warranties have already expired.
Finally the YouTuber describes the Switch 2's rear kickstand as "obviously too flimsy."
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Apparently moving it from only a single edge means putting the stand at "high risk" of breaking. So be careful if you plan on using the console in tabletop mode.
No doubt this is the first of many teardowns of the console, and it's likely that we'll see a lot more analysis on how the Switch 2 (and Joy-Cons) is built over the coming days.
Needless to say, in light of this quick analysis, and iFixit retroactively changing the Switch 1's repairability to 4/10, you may want to be very careful with your new purchase. Especially since it may not be easy to get a new one.
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WIRED
9 hours ago
- WIRED
Fairphone Has a New Plan to Get You to Care
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Android Authority
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I can't believe how far Switch emulation has come in the year since Nintendo killed it
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Fast Company
11 hours ago
- Fast Company
Don't believe these tech myths
Technology can seem pretty mysterious at times, so it's all too easy for misconceptions to spread. That helps explain why I keep seeing technological myths propagate. Should you bury a wet phone in rice? Do you need a VPN to use public Wi-Fi networks? Is your phone secretly recording your conversations? The answer to these questions and more is no, but believing otherwise can be detrimental. Here's my attempt to dispel a half dozen popular tech myths, and what you should do instead of believing them. This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jared's weekly tech advice newsletter. S i gn up for free to get more tips every Tuesday. Myth 1: Dry rice can save a wet phone The idea that uncooked rice will draw the moisture from a waterlogged phone is so pervasive that even Apple has tried to dispel it. 'Don't put your iPhone in a bag of rice,' the company's support documentation says. 'Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.' What to do instead: Your phone may already be water resistant, rendering the rice trick obsolete. But if not, iFixit recommends shaking loose any excess water, turning the phone off, and leaving it out to dry for as long as possible. (Putting your phone in rice forces you to leave it alone, which may explain why the myth persists.) Myth 2: You should regularly force-close all your phone apps Since the advent of recent app menus in iOS and Android, I've seen too many people compulsively swiping up to force-close all their apps, mistakenly believing this will conserve battery life or help the phone run faster. In fact, force-quitting everything can make performance and battery life worse, because your apps will use more power each time they fully reload. Even Apple says to force-close an app only if it's not responding, and the same logic applies to Android phones as well. What to do instead: Use the Battery menu in your phone's settings to identify apps that are draining your battery. You may need to adjust the background settings for that app or find an alternative. Myth 3: Incognito mode prevents websites from tracking you Misconceptions about Incognito mode are so widespread that Google had to settle a class-action lawsuit last year after Chrome users claimed that it provided a false sense of privacy. So here's what your browser's Incognito or Private Browsing mode actually does: Prevents sites from showing up in your browsing history so that others with access to your computer can't see them. Lets you browse sites in a logged-out state, with none of your interactions carried over from previous visits. These modes do not render you invisible online, as websites can still collect data and use identifiers such as your IP address to track you. And if you sign into a website while using Incognito mode, that activity will be associated with your account. What to do instead: Use a web browser with strong built-in tracking protections, and possibly a VPN if you're extremely concerned about privacy (though VPNs aren't panaceas either). An ad-blocking extension can help, but only if you've set it to run in Incognito mode. Myth 5: Public USB charging ports spread viruses Thanks to repeated FBI warnings over the years, the idea that public USB charging ports can infect your devices with malware has become pervasive, yet the actual threat of 'juice jacking' remains theoretical. To date, no one's provided a single real-world example of charging ports spreading viruses. Besides, both Android and iOS require permission to transfer data when connecting your phone to another device—something you'd hopefully reject when plugging into a nefarious port. What to do about it: Your own adapters and cables may be faster anyway—especially if you've followed my buying guide —but I wouldn't fret about using hotel or coffee shop charging ports in a pinch. Myth 5: You need a VPN for public Wi-Fi This one's just as pervasive as the juice-jacking myth, but at least it used to be true. These days, you'll notice that pretty much every website has an 'https' in its address, indicating that your traffic is encrypted. That makes the encryption from a VPN redundant. In the extremely rare case where a website transmits unencrypted data over Wi-Fi, your browser will use stern warnings to try to stop you from visiting it. What to do instead: According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the best thing to do is make sure your device's software and operating system are up-to-date, so you're not at risk of security vulnerabilities that might transmit unencrypted traffic. Myth 6: Your phone is listening to you You've probably heard an anecdote like this: I recently met up with a friend, and they told me about something they bought that I'd never heard of before. Then a couple of days later, I started seeing Instagram ads for that exact product! My phone has to be recording me. It's not, but the reality is no less concerning: If an app on your phone has access to your location, and that data gets shared with a company like Facebook or Google, it's fairly trivial for those companies to understand which devices are nearby and to target ads based on what those devices have been doing. That's a lot easier than secretly recording audio, especially because your phone indicates when that's happening. These steps won't solve every potential privacy issue, but they'll alleviate the feeling that your phone is always listening.
