Nintendo reportedly did not choose an AMD APU for Switch 2 due to battery life concerns

The Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to land before April 2025, and the recent leaks have given us an idea of what to expect. While it was already known that the Nvidia Tegra T239 could power the upcoming handheld, a last spec leak has again pointed to the same SoC.

However, as reported by Moore's Law is Dead, AMD had the opportunity to power Nintendo's upcoming handheld but lost the bid because of battery life concerns. AMD reportedly wanted to aim for 15W in handheld mode to offer a true next-gen gaming experience, but Nintendo prioritized battery runtime more.

The Japanese company didn't want to pack a heavy battery either. So, instead of going with an AMD APU, Nintendo settled on the Nvidia chip, which allegedly offers the same level of performance as AMD's proposition but has better efficiency.

Moreover, the Nvidia SoC that the Nintendo Switch 2 will pack is reportedly essential to keep costs low, as it's cheaper to manufacture. A leak from last week has also shed some light on the battery life that the upcoming gaming console may deliver.

Per the leak, the Switch 2 may feature a 20-Wh battery, which would be 4-Wh more than the OLED model (available on Amazon). If the Nvidia SoC is indeed power efficient, we could see a decent bump in terms of runtime in handheld mode. For reference, the Switch OLED lasts anywhere from 4.5 hours to 9 hours, depending on the game being played.