A brand new Nintendo Switch 2 may very well be the poster baby for replaceable batteries

Nintendo plans to launch a Switch 2 revision within the European Union that can let customers exchange their very own batteries, Nikkei reports. The present model of the Switch 2 has a glued-in battery. But Nintendo apparently plans to make the change with a purpose to adjust to EU guidelines going into impact in February 2027 that can require gadgets to let customers simply swap out moveable batteries.

The new model of the Switch 2 will likely be launched “soon,” and each the console and the Joy-Cons could have replaceable batteries, in accordance with Nikkei. In Japan, the console’s specs will stay the identical, Nikkei says. Nintendo didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The Verge.

Should this Switch 2 revision be launched within the EU and stay unique to the area, it wouldn’t be the primary time a device-maker has determined to do one thing like that; FujiFilm’s Instax Mini Link 3 has a user-replaceable NP-70S battery, however provided that you’re in Europe.

But I’m actually hoping Nintendo launches this revision extra broadly. Phone makers particularly have been higher about providing extra repairable gadgets lately — maybe in response to right-to-repair laws — and now that console generations are lasting for practically a decade, any means that Nintendo (or different sport {hardware} makers) could make its gadgets simpler to make use of for longer with out pricey repairs or replacements could be a lot welcomed.