the nintendo switch was recently released to the typical fanfare one would expect from potentially the last new system that will be produced by the legendary video game company and it did not take long for there to be breakdowns and examinations of what makes the mobile system tick.

the nintendo switch has a large battery and uses several thermal management concepts.
(wikimedia commons)

according to an article on zdnet.com, the nintendo switch has a large 16 wh lithium-ion battery inside it, which dwarfs the battery that was inside the wii u gamepad (also released by nintendo). in order to cool that battery power, nintendo includes a large fan, a heat pipe, and a metal plate acting as a heat sink.

those components spread the heat out and dissipate it before overheating the plastic handheld console (or burning the gamers that are holding it).

the breakdown of the system was completed by the folks at ifixit.com, who tore it open to see what components made up the system.

among the items of note were fan vents at the top of the system that were prominent when it started making use of the nvidia graphics card inside. a delta electronics fan is used, but the article noted, “a fan can be a death sentence for battery life in any portable device, so it makes sense that rumors have it that the graphics are drastically underclocked when you're undocked.”

watch video of the breakdown below: