Nintendo has a new patent for what appears to be a Nintendo Switch dock with a rotating hub for its cords built into the back. For the longest time, the Nintendo Switch’s I/O (input/output) port only pointed to the right (when the console side is facing forwards). If this patent manifests, then it would alleviate the need to finagle cords for the sake of docking your Switch.
As seen in the documentation, the dock includes what appears to be the Switch’s standard AC adapter, HDMI, and LAN (a.k.a. USB) ports in the rotating hub in the middle. The only difference between this and the standard Switch seems to be that the plug cluster can rotate, so you can plug in cords on the left or right side.
In the current version of the Switch dock, the hub is firmly on the right side and doesn’t move. If Nintendo Switch users need the ports on the left for whatever reason, they need to curve the cords back around or turn the console dock backwards to make it work. It’s easy to imagine how a rotating hub would be a much more elegant solution without the twists and tangles.
This patent solidifies Nintendo’s rights to this type of dock design for its console, but it doesn’t mean that it will actually come to fruition. At this point, it’s uncertain if Nintendo will implement it in an upgraded version of its aging console or if it will wait for a more advanced one like the reported Nintendo Switch 2. Enough mystery already surrounds the company’s next-gen console, like if it will really come out in 2025, or the kind of processor it uses. We’ll have to see later this year, perhaps after a summer of announcements.