Nintendo Limits Switch 2’s USB-C Port Compatibility, Affecting Most Third-Party Docks and Accessories

Oh man, where do I start with this? So yeah, the new Nintendo Switch 2—I’ve been geeking out over this for a bit now. It’s got these sweet upgrades, like a huge screen that’s basically sharper than my eyesight on a good day. It refreshes at 120 Hz, which, really, how is that even a thing? Somehow, it’s like my old Switch was a flip phone compared to this beast. The Joy-Cons feel way better in your hands now too. They’re magnetic, which is cool, but makes me paranoid about it messing with all the magnets I already put on my fridge. Anyone else worry about that, or is it just my weird brain?

But here’s the kicker—Nintendo’s thrown a wrench into the whole accessory thing. Apparently, they’ve got some high-tech encryption magic happening on the USB-C port. I’m thinking, why? Why do we make things so complicated? Maybe they want to keep control over what connects to their precious device. Who knows?

I stumbled on a story from Sean Hollister—he’s poking around trying to figure this out. When you plug random docks or hubs into USB-C stuff, it should follow this neat little script, right? Like how dogs know to sit when you med it. Turns out Nintendo has their own secret handshake for this, with a whole bunch of undercover messages going back and forth. So those regular hubs that work everywhere else? Yeah, nah, not here. Except, wait for it, there’s an exception—’cause of course there is.

This Antank S3 Max dock. It’s kind of like finding a four-leaf clover in your backyard. Somehow, this little contraption speaks the same language as Nintendo’s official stuff, but only if you use the right power cord. No idea why I noticed this, but the power difference was tiny enough to make my brain hurt.

But don’t get too cozy with your Antank, ’cause Nintendo might just decide to change the rules again. Future firmware updates could be lurking around the corner. The folks at Antank are like, “Yep, we know, it’s kind of a moving target.” They say they can update their stuff with firmware if Nintendo decides to pull a fast one, but who really knows if that’ll work out. I’m keeping my eyes peeled on this one, just in case I need to upgrade my upgrade, you know?

If you’re following Tom’s Hardware, you’ll already be on top of all this, but hey, gotta keep the info flowing, right?