I think this deserves its own thread. Thanks to the guys at Switchbrew it's been discovered that firmware 5.0 adds compatibility with an unannounced Switch revision with the codename "Mariko".
http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=5.0.0
The only thing we know is that the revision will use Tegra 214 instead of the current 210.
The CPU upgrade is probably because the current Switch SoC (system on a chip) includes a hardware vulnerability that makes hacking possible in all firmware versions, even future ones.
We don't know how different this revision would be. It could be a simple security upgrade or a new model a la new 3DS.
Either way, this means future Switch units will have a different SoC and current ones will probably become rare (and more expensive because of the hacking possibilities).
Update 03/19/2018:
This may be bigger than we originally thought.
Another Switch hacker replied that the 8GB bump may be for the devkits only for now, but these devkits may be related to a new Switch revision.
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It's also convenient to remember what Nintendo said about revisions last year:
A new folder "a" was added, in addition to the existing "nx" folder, containing a separate "bct" and "package1". Both of these seem encrypted/meant for the new "Mariko" hardware that support was added for.
http://switchbrew.org/index.php?title=5.0.0
The only thing we know is that the revision will use Tegra 214 instead of the current 210.
The CPU upgrade is probably because the current Switch SoC (system on a chip) includes a hardware vulnerability that makes hacking possible in all firmware versions, even future ones.
We don't know how different this revision would be. It could be a simple security upgrade or a new model a la new 3DS.
Either way, this means future Switch units will have a different SoC and current ones will probably become rare (and more expensive because of the hacking possibilities).
Update 03/19/2018:
This may be bigger than we originally thought.
Another Switch hacker replied that the 8GB bump may be for the devkits only for now, but these devkits may be related to a new Switch revision.
---
It's also convenient to remember what Nintendo said about revisions last year:
"It is Nintendo Switch, so maybe we'll switch it up!" jokes Takahashi, responding to a question about whether Switch's life cycle will resemble more the company's TV consoles (completely new ideas at five-year-plus intervals) or its handhelds (subtler changes every few years). "Certainly, we've designed Nintendo Switch in a way that it can be used by consumers in the way that best suits them. I think we may see that people who have bought a Nintendo home console in the past traditionally, they may treat Switch like a home console and buy it and use it for a long period of time. Whereas people who have been traditionally Nintendo handheld gamers, they may buy Nintendo Switch and then for example, if a new version were to come out later, then maybe they would decide to upgrade to that."
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