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A Nintendo Switch has been taken apart

A

Aurongel

Member
ToTi said:
Uhm..
Click to expand...

Branduil said:
What?
Click to expand...

Jonneh3003 said:
Do you have anything to back that up? Just kind of sounds like you're needlessly hating based on everyone elses reaction.
Click to expand...

Spork4000 said:
What? How is it inefficient? The actual battery specs line up with it's size. You play a 3D game on an iPad pro and see how long it lasts.
Click to expand...

Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
Fularu said:
The people who said that had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

From the reveal it was fairly obvious that this is the most advanced, most powefull mobile device (tablet size one anyway) available to the general public.

* not counting something like the Surface pro 4 and even then, I believe the GPU in the switch to be far beyond whatever the IGPU on the i7 can do
Click to expand...

Even then devices like the Surface Pro won't offer optimised game performance like the Switch does, this is a milestone in portable gaming.
 
R

random25

Member
Aurongel said:
Which is still extremely inefficient and poor compared to its' mobile peers.

In terms of hardware engineering, this thing has more in common with mobile devices of 2008 than it does with say an iPad Pro.

Very odd engineering decisions. I'm surprised this is getting so much praise but I suspect most people here don't look at many other hardware teardowns or architecture diagrams. The WiiU was a damn mess internally but this is a pretty substantial leap for them.
Click to expand...

Lol wat? Ever see a hardware teardown of similar products?
 
C

Captain_Wreckus

Member
Aurongel said:
Which is still extremely inefficient and poor compared to its' mobile peers.

In terms of hardware engineering, this thing has more in common with mobile devices of 2008 than it does with say an iPad Pro.

Very odd engineering decisions. I'm surprised this is getting so much praise but I suspect most people here don't look at many other hardware teardowns or architecture diagrams. The WiiU was a damn mess internally but this is a pretty substantial leap for them.
Click to expand...

Consider the size constraints, I think Nintendo did a fantastic job considering they are a gaming company and not a company like Apple.

Edit: got rid of Samsung in the last sentence.
 
G

Gotdatmoney

Member
Ninja Dom said:
Thanks. And Switch is using Pascal or still to be confirmed? Where's Digital Foundry? They're normally fast with this. dark10x??
Click to expand...

All we know is it's custom and the dev kits were using standard X1s. As far as what the fabrication process is (which would be the major difference between Pascal and Maxwell), we don't know at this point.
 
LordRaptor

LordRaptor

Member
Aurongel said:
The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor.
Click to expand...

...what?
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Aurongel said:
Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
Click to expand...

Again, you have no fucking idea what you're talking about.

There. Is. No. Space.

Battery packaging eats a lot of space. One big battery wastes less space than two smaller ones.
 
D

Draper

Member
Aurongel said:
Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
Click to expand...

'I am speaking out my ass'
 
Astral Dog

Astral Dog

Member
Here is a Wii U for comparison
images

images
 
R

Rodin

Member
Aurongel said:
Which is still extremely inefficient and poor compared to its' mobile peers.

In terms of hardware engineering, this thing has more in common with mobile devices of 2008 than it does with say an iPad Pro.

Very odd engineering decisions. I'm surprised this is getting so much praise but I suspect most people here don't look at many other hardware teardowns or architecture diagrams. The WiiU was a damn mess internally but this is a pretty substantial leap for them.
Click to expand...

Aurongel said:
Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
Click to expand...

2618954-trying+not+to+laugh.gif
 
G

gogogow

Member
Major_Wreckus said:
Consider the size constraints, I think Nintendo did a fantastic job considering they are a gaming company and not a company like Apple or Samsung.
Click to expand...

Lets not mention Samsung. They have one of their important smartphone production line shutdown because of exploding batteries, which was down to bad design choices.
 
Eolz

Eolz

Member
Nice, looking forward to when the chip will be analyzed like the WiiU last time, that was a super interesting thread.
No space wasted here, and some really cool tech, Nintendo didn't go with something cheap for an handheld!

edit: wth is Aurongel talking about?
 
…

……forgetit

Member
Aurongel said:
Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
Click to expand...

You mean like this?

BWxDDIGysyXW6ysD.huge
Click to expand...

My guess is because the switch is much smaller and thicker than an iPad Pro. It doesn't have as much surface area to work with so the multiple battery design probably wouldn't have been as useful considering how much smaller the individual batteries would be.

Just look at Apple's own iPhone 7

kagyl1qcW4AtoBlf.huge


Still uses a single battery design. Multiple batteries wouldn't work well for the switch.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Major_Wreckus said:
Consider the size constraints, I think Nintendo did a fantastic job considering they are a gaming company and not a company like Apple or Samsung.
Click to expand...
Foxconn is the one that manufactures the iPhones and iPads, so I have no idea why you say "Apple".
 
K

KAL2006

Banned
Aurongel said:
Which is still extremely inefficient and poor compared to its' mobile peers.

In terms of hardware engineering, this thing has more in common with mobile devices of 2008 than it does with say an iPad Pro.

Very odd engineering decisions. I'm surprised this is getting so much praise but I suspect most people here don't look at many other hardware teardowns or architecture diagrams. The WiiU was a damn mess internally but this is a pretty substantial leap for them.
Click to expand...

I don't look at hardware teardowns. Do you have other examples of a tablet as powerful as Switch with active cooling?
 
J

jokkir

Member
gogogow said:
Lets not mention Samsung. They have one of their important smartphone production line shutdown because of exploding batteries, which was down to bad design choices.
Click to expand...

Uhhhhhh, it was because of faulty batteries. Both the initial units and the replacement unites had bad batteries (assuming because of the production ramp up to remedy the situation quickly). Samsung got unlucky twice.

Read up on the investigation report.
 
K

KAL2006

Banned
Aurongel said:
Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
Click to expand...

Do those other examples have active cooling and how much do those systems cost?
 
mario_O

mario_O

Member
gogogow said:
Lets not mention Samsung. They have one of their important smartphone production line shutdown because of exploding batteries, which was down to bad design choices.
Click to expand...

lol,
they also have a million other products that work just fine. jeez.
 
R

random25

Member
Spork4000 said:
You mean like this?



My guess is because the switch is much smaller and thicker than an iPad Pro. It doesn't have as much surface area to work with so the multiple battery design probably wouldn't have been as useful considering how much smaller the individual batteries would be.
Click to expand...

Battery of tablets like iPad pro is split like that because its combined capacity is huge. That's literally more than double the capacity of single battery of the Switch, or any small tablets and phones for that matter.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
jokkir said:
Uhhhhhh, it was because of faulty batteries. Both the initial units and the replacement unites had bad batteries (assuming because of the production ramp up to remedy the situation quickly). Samsung got unlucky twice.

Read up on the investigation report.
Click to expand...
That's an oversimplification of what happened.

They made the batteries for one size as requested, then the space for the battery was changed without making the battery smaller for safety.

random25 said:
Battery of tablets like iPad pro is split like that because its combined capacity is huge. That's literally more than double the capacity of single battery of the Switch.
Click to expand...
My Alienware with a 99Whr Single battery says hi though.

They do it because of weight distribution really.
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
ShadowFox08 said:
oh god.. by the end of the day we should know most of the specs(hopefully). Hopefully we'll know if its foxconn clockspeeds by end of the first week of release

this is how i'm feelilng

iM80S7d.jpg


1zijogFMBcES.jpg


SpawnWave and SuperMetalDave64 is gonna be all over this shit.
Click to expand...
No we won't. We still don't know clocks. We still can't see inside the damn chip
 
U

UnemployedVillain

Member
NeOak said:
That's an oversimplification of what happened.

They made the batteries for one size as requested, then the space for the battery was changed without making the battery smaller for safety.
Click to expand...

Yup exactly. There's always a slight expansion when batteries heat up and the housing didn't account for that hence explosions
 
P

Phamit

Member
Aurongel said:
Whoa, settle down folks.

The thing that jumps out most immediately to me at an architectural level is the fact that the battery is a single discrete component rather than a conglomerate of smaller modules that are more evenly dispersed for heat and balance reasons. Tablets today have followed that design paradigm for the better part of a decade and I'm confused why that isn't the case here for something that has that form factor. I'd like to see more of it before I say any more but that's my take from a distance. I can't really speak to the hardware specs themselves until more is known about them.
Click to expand...

Switch is a lot smaller in Size and smaller tablets still use only one cell
 
P

pulsemyne

Member
Spork4000 said:
You mean like this?



My guess is because the switch is much smaller and thicker than an iPad Pro. It doesn't have as much surface area to work with so the multiple battery design probably wouldn't have been as useful considering how much smaller the individual batteries would be.
Click to expand...

Also the Ipad, like many tablets has no active venting. The Switch needs active venting so it needs to be designed for that. That Tegra chip will run a lot hotter than the stuff in Ipads as it needs to maintain a constant performance and not be thermal throttled.
 
B

BlastProcessing

Member
Peltz said:
Damn... I was hoping that all that processing was being done by mini-Pikmin inside. This just makes it look like normal electronics.



Is the black thing with the Japanese text the battery?

34zz9Nu.jpg


It's pretty wild that there's nearly no air inside. It's so densely designed.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of a story about the creation of the first iPod. Some Apple engineers were showing Jobs an iPod prototype. Jobs said is was unacceptably large. The engineers explained that it couldn't possibly get any smaller. Jobs picked up the iPod and dropped it into a fish tank that was in the meeting room with them.

He pointed at the bubbles coming out of the iPod and said "That's air. Get rid of it."
 
T

ToTi

Member
BlastProcessing said:
Reminds me of a story about the creation of the first iPod. Some Apple engineers were showing Jobs an iPod prototype. Jobs said is was unacceptably large. The engineers explained that it couldn't possibly get any smaller. Jobs picked up the iPod and dropped it into a fish tank that was in the meeting room with them.

He pointed at the bubbles coming out of the iPod and said "That's air. Get rid of it."
Click to expand...
That's amazing ahah!
 
M

MrBigBoy

Member
Spork4000 said:
You mean like this?



My guess is because the switch is much smaller and thicker than an iPad Pro. It doesn't have as much surface area to work with so the multiple battery design probably wouldn't have been as useful considering how much smaller the individual batteries would be.

Just look at Apple's own iPhone 7

kagyl1qcW4AtoBlf.huge


Still uses a single battery design. Multiple batteries wouldn't work well for the switch.
Click to expand...
I think he means this:
oX5W1ge4qEqTQLYF.medium


This way the weight is more evenly distributed. But this is 12inch vs 6inch so I don't think it matters as much for the Switch.
 
K

KAL2006

Banned
Phamit said:
Switch is a lot smaller in Size and smaller tablets still use only one cell
Click to expand...

pulsemyne said:
Also the Ipad, like many tablets has no active venting. The Switch needs active venting so it needs to be designed for that. That Tegra chip will run a lot hotter than the stuff in Ipads as it needs to maintain a constant performance and not be thermal throttled.
Click to expand...

As I thought Arongel is unable to provide an example of another tablet with active cooling and within a £280 price range.

Unless the Switch is even bigger that it is, and costs more or doesn't have active cooling which means games running at a lower clock then we could have had something as nice as iPad Pro internals.
 
…

……forgetit

Member
MrBigBoy said:
I think he means this:
oX5W1ge4qEqTQLYF.medium


This way the weight is more evenly distributed. But this is 12inch vs 6inch so I don't think it matters as much for the Switch.
Click to expand...

Well the switch is actively cooled. Nintendo seems to have also prioritized keeping the battery away from the SOC, sense it will heat up a lot when it's charging.
 
K

KAL2006

Banned
MrBigBoy said:
I think he means this:
oX5W1ge4qEqTQLYF.medium


This way the weight is more evenly distributed. But this is 12inch vs 6inch so I don't think it matters as much for the Switch.
Click to expand...

None of these examples have active cooling are much bigger form factors and much pricier.

Active cooling is a big deal the internals have to be designed around that.
 
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