First Switch Teardown: A whole lotta thermal paste

The first Switch teardown is in. Nintendo’s handheld/console hybrid hasn’t even been out a day, but that didn’t stop YouTuber Gamers Nexus from peeking inside.

Thankfully, Nintendo is keeping with their current design trend. No tri-wing or security screws in sight. Just plain old Phillips heads. Cracking the Switch opens reveals a pleasantly modular design.

The Switch features a massive 4,310 mAh battery. Nintendo is promising 4-6 hours of gameplay out of this bad boy, depending on the game. While the battery isn’t modular like the 3DS, it should be easy enough to replace with basic tools and a little patience.  

Next to the battery is Nintendo’s cooling solution. The Switch is the first actively cooled handheld from a major gaming company. A small fan and heat pipe keeps the Tegra X1 chilly. Nintendo’s engineers have also applied a ridiculous amount of thermal paste. I suppose they wanted to make extra sure the Switch wouldn’t overheat, but it makes the PC builder in me cringe. Like the battery, these too are straightforward to replace. 

The teardown also confirmed that the Switch does indeed have 4GB of RAM. It also has a single NAND chip holding all 32GB of internal storage. 

With all its small components and fiddly ZIF conectors, it’s unlikely that the Switch will take iFixit’s top spot. However, it’s good to know some hardware makers are still keeping repair in mind.

You can watch Gamers Nexus’ entire Switch teardown here.

Image via Gamers Nexus

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