Has your Switch 2 been running hot? You’re not alone. In fact, part of the problem might just be that you’re playing it during the summer—at least, according to a new statement from Nintendo. As spotted by Tom’s Hardware, Nintendo’s official Japanese account posted a warning to both Switch 2 and original Switch players:
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Through X’s Google-powered translator, we can see that Nintendo’s post says the following:
Using Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 in a hot environment may cause the console to become hot. Please use it in a place between 5 and 35 ℃ as it may cause a malfunction. Recently, the temperature has been exceeding 35 ℃ for several days. Please be careful when using outdoors.
For those of us in the U.S., Nintendo is advising us to play our Switch 2 units in areas between 41 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s actually a little less forgiving than something like an iPhone, which Apple says should be used between 32 and 95 degrees.
But at the moment, we’re not focusing on the lower end of this range—it’s the 95 degree limit we need to think about. Nintendo’s warning comes as many countries around the globe experience a hot summer. Nintendo of Japan’s post focused on Japan, of course, but plenty of other regions have experienced heat waves exceeding 95 degrees. As such, if you decide to play your Switch 2 outside on a day that hot (or hotter), you may experience issues with your device.
Why can’t you use devices in extreme heat?
It’s not just your Switch 2—all technology (especially tech containing microchips) is susceptible to heat.
Microchips are designed to run up to a certain temperature threshold. The chip in your Switch 2 doesn’t max out at 95 degrees, however: That limit is there to ensure the chip doesn’t get close to its maximum temperature. Once the Switch 2 starts to get too hot, it’ll work to stay cool: Fans try to push hot air out, while the processor may slow down, resulting in noticeable lag in performance.
However, if none of these tactics work, and the console continues to get hotter, it’ll lock itself up, so you can no longer play it. It’s the same thing that happens if your smartphone gets too hot—you’ll need to take your Switch somewhere it can cool down, and once at a safe temperature, it’ll continue working as it should.
Switch 2 reportedly overheats
Playing the console outside when it’s too hot is perhaps the “best” way to push the Switch 2 to its temperature limits, but it might not be the only way.
What do you think so far?
Last month, some Switch 2 players started reporting that their consoles were overheating—fans would run fast, while games would freeze and crash. These issues appeared to happen in demanding third-party titles like Cyberpunk 2077, but also first-party games like Pokémon and Splatoon. Interestingly, these initial reports appear to have come primarily from players in Japan.
The Switch 2 is quite a bit more powerful than the original Switch, especially in docked mode, and while both the console and the dock have built-in fans for active cooling, it’s possible that higher-performance is leading to more warming than expected for players.
Not all players are experiencing this, though. This Reddit thread, for example, contains players who have Switch 2s that play mostly cool, while others note the console can get hot, especially in docked mode, but nothing serious. There’s a big difference between a console getting hot to the touch, but otherwise performing normally, and overheating, which can lead to performance and battery issues.
This Nintendo post on X could suggest that the worst of the overheating reports have come alongside a particularly warm summer—if the Switch 2 is prone to warming up during the best of conditions, then playing it outside or in a space without air conditioning on a hot day could result in overheating.
There’s not enough here for me to consider this a concerning trend, but it is good to keep in mind. If it’s too hot, find somewhere cooler to play your Switch.