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These teardowns reveal what's actually inside the Nintendo Switch

Check out the Nvidia Tegra processor and some possible reasons for controller connectivity issues.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman
switch-teardown.jpg
iFixit

One fun part of any new gadget launch is the inevitable teardown, where dedicated tech sleuths get out their tools and soldering irons and take everything apart.

The Nintendo Switch has already undergone two major teardowns by established names in the field, TechInsights and iFixit. Both teardowns detail the Nvidia Tegra processor inside. But TechInsights found the system's 32GB of storage came from Samsung, while iFixit's unit had a Toshiba 32GB module.

Also interesting, the TechInsights teardown speculates as to why some people have had trouble with Bluetooth connectivity on their Joy-Con controllers, especially the left one:

joy-con-6.jpg

A view inside the Joy-Con controller, from TechInsights.

 TechInsights

"In our right Joy-Con, pictured below, we see a pretty bare bones BT antenna design: a connector, a wire and a very small antenna...[but] there is indeed no antenna in this location in the left controller. This points to a possible explanation for the more frequent issues experienced with the left controller."

If you're interested in a more in-depth look under the shell of the Nintendo Switch, the TechInsights teardown is here, while the iFixit teardown is here.