While excitement mounts with the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2, there are several things to ponder if one is the tinkerer-and-fix-it kind of gadget user. Early reports from repair experts associated with iFixit indicate that getting into the new console, let alone repairing it, has grown even more challenging than it was for the original Switch.
Nintendo Switch 2 is obviously not in the running for best scores in the repair category. iFixit has given it a rather low score of 3 out of 10. To further illustrate its standing, the original Switch, which scored 8 initially, now claims a score of 4 according to the newer and stricter testing standards set in 2025. So, what's been said to have affected the second generation
It seems some combination of extra-strength adhesives, soldered components, and some bewildering design choices have together made what should have been a simple component swap a real headache.
Perhaps the greatest hindrance seems to be the battery. Supposedly glued down with an exceptionally fierce adhesive, it offers quite the challenge to get out. The iFixit team commented that getting this out meant going through copious quantities of isopropyl alcohol, a complete set of tools, and considerable patience. Ow And don't forget about the foam stuck to the battery; this will not help the user put it back in correctly.
It just gets better. The all-important USB-C port, flash memory, and card reader are now reported to be soldered directly to the motherboard—somewhat akin to what was seen in the Switch Lite—so that when one of those parts goes down, it's an order of magnitude harder to repair, requiring micro-soldering methods.
Drying long memories, criticism surfaces over the old Switch's Joy-Con drift. Despite some slight aesthetic improvements on the new Joy-Cons, those potentiometers—the parts that will wear with use and result in joystick drift—is said to be unchanged. Thus, if Switch 2 were to develop joystick drift, the older-potentiometer theory would hold very well. Adding insult to injury, disassembling and replacing these components would seem to be even more difficult.
It may not be all hopeless. Apparently, trying to get some parts, such as the speakers, microphone, buttons, headphone jack, and cooling fan out, will not be too hard. However, the path to all those parts could come with the odd little screw here and there. To make matters worse, a general shortage of official repair guides and readily available spare parts from Nintendo makes it feel as though the average user is playing a game of chance balancing on the line between simple and super complicated.
When all is said and done, the Nintendo Switch 2 promises to bring about a different era of gaming. However, for those concerned with repairability, perhaps this iteration is one notch down in terms of ease of fixing.
