The Nintendo Switch OLED dock will be available by itself, but will only be available from Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch OLED dock will be available by itself, but will only be available from Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch OLED was announced yesterday, fixing several shortcomings of the original Switch. Among them was the fact that the dock did not have a dedicated wired Ethernet port.

However, one does not necessarily need to purchase the Switch OLED to enjoy this special upgrade. This is because Nintendo plans to sell this product as a stand-alone product.

Nintendo confirmed this news to Digital Trends, revealing that it will be available in black and white, as will the Switch OLED console itself. However, Nintendo also confirmed that standalone really means standalone, and the dock will not come with an HDMI cable or AC power adapter.

The lack of an HDMI cable is not the worst thing in the world, as they are fairly easy to obtain. However, if you plan to buy a new dock to connect the Switch to a second TV, you will need to spend $16 for a second power adapter. Without it, the Switch will not output to TV mode.

Nintendo did the exact same thing with the original Switch dock, so this should come as no big surprise. However, this means that existing Switch owners will not have to shell out $350 for a brand new console in order to enjoy a wired Ethernet connection.

Of course, Nintendo sells Ethernet adapters for the original Switch dock for as high as $29. That may be cheaper than buying a new dock, though. Nintendo has not confirmed how much the Switch OLED dock will cost, but given that the original Switch dock sells for $60, it is unlikely that the new dock will be any cheaper.

The company also confirmed that the standalone dock will only be available directly from the Nintendo Online Store and will not be sold at other retailers. Unfortunately, the exact release date is unknown, but it is unlikely to be available before October 8.

Pre-order pages for the Nintendo Switch OLED have already begun showing up at major retailers. If you are interested in purchasing the entire new console rather than a standalone dock, be sure to check out our guide on where to buy the Nintendo Switch OLED. At the very least, you won't have to wait for Nintendo to start selling standalone docks.

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