Nintendo may have revealed some interesting details about its next-generation gaming console, the Nintedo Switch Pro (or Switch 2). While there has been much speculation about the upcoming console's 4K support, one tweet suggests that code supporting some of those details is starting to appear in updates.

There are two clues that firmware version 12 will include exciting technology for the Switch Pro: first, the new Cradle Aula (apparently a codename for the new dock) and the ability to support firmware updates The second is a line that mentions the new Cradle Aula. This would mean that the new Switch dock will not be just a stand with ports like the current dock, but will perform some advanced processing.

WinFuture notes that the second line is also curious: "4kdp_preferred_over_usb30," which Internet Detective interprets to mean 4K DisplayPort over USB 3.0. Why Nintendo would use DisplayPort instead of HDMI remains to be seen, but DP could mean something else entirely.

The Switch Pro controls appear to be very similar to the original device. When taken out of the dock, it could be a 720p gaming console with an improved OLED screen. Once in the dock, it may be upscaled, but is likely to offer some 4K option.

The two options are either the dock itself has a more powerful GPU and uses it when the Switch is connected to the TV, or, more likely, Nvidia provides custom hardware that allows the dock to run its DLSS technology Either of these is the case. Given Nvidia's involvement with the original Switch, it is likely that the new model will follow a similar route.

Deep Learning Supersampling (DLSS) takes a low-resolution signal and applies machine learning to the output to make it appear as if it were rendered in 4K. the best gaming PCs with Nvidia GPUs have used DLSS to achieve impressive results However, this technology needs to be integrated into the game and simply cannot be applied to everything.

A further complication is that DLSS is done within the GPU using the Tensor core; since DLSS is done in the graphics pipeline, upscaling the output from the DisplayPort will not produce the same results. Therefore, the Switch Pro would need to have a fairly powerful GPU built in or a secondary GPU in the dock that would be active when the console is connected. That would be expensive, and there is no indication that the required Thunderbolt is included in the specifications.

Bearing in mind that Nintendo has a long history of favoring games, especially first-party titles, to run at 60 fps, it is quite unlikely that a portable console could accomplish that without extra help.