You probably won't be fixing your own Nintendo Switch 2
The techs over at iFixit have completed their teardown of the Nintendo Switch 2, which launched this week . After completing a thorough analysis of the newest Nintendo console, it appears this generation of Switch is even harder to repair than its predecessor. iFixit has assigned the Switch 2 a repairability score of three out of 10. This represents an even lower score than the retroactive four out of 10 they awarded to the original model. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
A substantial consideration in iFixit's scoring system is the availability of repair parts from the manufacturer for the device in question. While there was some hope that Nintendo would have to comply with Right to Repair laws, sufficiently stringent versions of these regulations have yet to materialize , and OEM parts are almost impossible to come by.
Further complicating the repairability is that the charge ports, main storage and a game card reader that are all soldered to the board. The USB-C charge ports are a particular pain point here, as disconnecting and reconnecting the charging cable wears on the charge port over time. A bad yank on the charging cable or a fall while it's connected could damage the charge port, which would require re-soldering a new one.
iFixit found that the battery was also frustratingly difficult to remove — another major detractor to repairability, as batteries by their nature degrade over time. Beyond being difficult to access without the proper tools, it's held down with strong adhesive that requires a lot of effort (and isopropyl alcohol) to remove.
So if you happen to get your hands on a Switch 2, buy a case and baby that battery, because if it needs any repairs you'll likely be shipping it to Nintendo and paying a pretty penny .
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She confirmed the process was a little tricky, but she'd be happy to cancel it. She'd need to "file a ticket," and it might take three to five days before my order was actually canceled and my credit card credited. I told her thanks, but I was going to hold off on canceling for a few more days. After I hung up with her, I thought, OK, I don't really want to be a jerk about this, but I do work for CNET, and maybe it's time to share my Switch 2 buying saga with a wider audience. It's Been a Week Since the Nintendo Switch 2 Launched: Now What? It's Been a Week Since the Nintendo Switch 2 Launched: Now What? Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:01 / Duration 0:06 Loaded : 100.00% 0:01 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:05 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. It's Been a Week Since the Nintendo Switch 2 Launched: Now What? As a journalist, what you should do in a situation like this is reach out to a company media representative and inform them that you're writing about how you've had a rather poor shopping experience with their company. So I did just that, explaining that I wasn't too upset about the situation, but I was concerned about the lack of communication about the status of my order, which seemed to be stuck in a state of limbo. Also, judging from a couple of Reddit threads on the topic, others were in the same position. Did Verizon have any comment? Initially, it appeared Verizon might give me a comment. But then it didn't. However, I did get tipped off that the Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle had just come back into stock and that no one had posted about it. I quickly fired up my computer and headed back to Verizon's website, where, sure enough, it was in stock. Glutton for punishment that I am, I placed an order for it since the bundle was what I wanted in the first place. I then called up Verizon customer service to cancel my initial order. The Reddit users' comments proved accurate. I spent almost 30 minutes on the phone -- most of it hold time -- waiting for the service rep to jump through all the hoops to get my order canceled. At the end of the call, I got a cancellation confirmation number (the aforementioned "ticket") and was told that it would indeed take three to five days to process. For my second order, I didn't add expedited shipping, opting instead for the free two-day shipping. I got an email that confirmed my order, but when I went to track its status the next day, it still showed that my order was received but had yet to ship. I was sure I'd entered the doom loop again. But lo and behold, a few hours later, I received an email saying my order had arrived. In the Verizon app, the status of my order had changed to "shipped." When I got back home, I found a plain brown box with an expedited shipping label on it. My Switch 2 and a code for Mario Kart World were inside. All's well that ends well? The Mario Kart World bundle arrived the day after I ordered it. David Carnoy/CNET If you're thinking someone made sure that order got to me pronto, you probably wouldn't be wrong. But I won't lie. Despite it costing what it did and my putting a lot more effort into getting it than I wanted to, there was a certain satisfaction in finally receiving it. I do think it's a lot better than the original Switch that I bought shortly after it launched. Or maybe I'm just trying to justify spending $544 on it. At least I can try out those Belkin accessories now.
