Switch 2 Dock

Description

The Switch 2 Dock is designed to deliver higher‑end visuals and expanded connectivity compared to the original Switch dock. The new hardware supports native and upscaled 4K output (up to 60 fps) via a custom NVIDIA processor, with HDR and VRR support, and can handle frame rates up to 120 fps at lower resolutions. Even games that don’t render in 4K natively can be upscaled when connected to a compatible display.

Physically, the Switch 2 dock looks similar to its predecessor but has subtle changes, including active cooling to help manage heat during docked play. It continues to use USB‑C for the console connection, although the Switch also adds a second USB‑C port on the console itself for accessories. The dock is not cross‑compatible with the original Switch by design: the Switch 2’s slightly different shape and port lip prevent it from seating correctly in the older dock, and vice versa.

Internally the new Dock appears to continue to provide USB Power Delivery passthrough, a basic USB 3 hub, including to an internal Gigabit ethernet adapter, and most importantly HDMI output via a USB-C DisplayPort alternate mode, and a DisplayPort to HDMI chipset. Although the dock is reportedly limited to HDMI 2.0, the chipset supports HDMI 2.1 although it would be limited to the bandwidth of DisplayPort 1.4 – still more than enough. Not dissimilar to connecting a 6 gbps SATA drive through a 5 gbps USB bridge. Whether Nintendo decides to provide firmware changes in future remains to be seen.