The "Switch Pro" rumour has been circulating for a while now, and I don't think it any more likely or unlikely as the last time it was in the spotlight. Anyone can be a video game analyst and make predictions.
Making some predictions of my own - at the risk of this post aging VERY badly, at which point we can all laugh at me as I hide my face in shame - I don't think a Switch Pro is very likely this year. I mean...
1. Releasing a Switch Pro to "compete" with the PS5/XBX is a silly idea, because a Switch Pro, at the absolute best, might have the processing power of a standard model PS4. Nintendo don't compete using hardware; they compete with their library of strong IPs. They have ALWAYS been a generation behind hardware-wise when compared to their competitors, and a Switch Pro wouldn't change that. They don't NEED to compete in this fashion anyway, because the Switch's market share is only just behind the Xbox One, and it's been out for far less time.
2. The Switch Lite was released last year, and the original model was also upgraded last year. A Switch Pro coming out THIS year seems counter-productive - it seems more likely to me that Nintendo would want to boost sales of their existing units before flooding the market with a more powerful one. Whilst the Lite didn't detract from sales of the original Switch (I know I've read this somewhere but the source eludes me; I'll hunt for it if anyone is REALLY that interested but otherwise eh just let me finish my thought) having three models out and released in such a short window doesn't seem too likely.
tbh I would say, at best, we'll see a Switch Pro announcement this year, with a 2021 release window. If we get that much I'll be somewhat surprised. If we actually get it this year to tie in with the PS5/XBX release window I'll be appalled, because that's such an anti-Nintendo thing to do. The timing and obvious reasoning for it I mean, not the release of a Pro model itself, which would be VERY Nintendo.
I suppose time will tell, but...yeah, take analyst predictions with a grain of salt tbh. People will keep saying these things over and over until they're right and then they'll act as though they correctly predicted the timing, when in reality it's common sense that it'll come eventually. We've had analysts saying that a Switch Lite and Pro will come within the next few months since the OG Switch model launched, and all they've got to go on is that the Nintendo DS and 3DS had multiple models over the course of its life, and that "mid-gen upgrades" to current consoles have become an expected and acceptable thing.
