I told you that if Nintendo Switch 2 doesn’t support AR glasses, I “might actually lose it.” Now after testing it ourselves, we can confirm this is true – there is no video out in those USB-C ports, so it’s time for a crash out.
In the year of our Lord, 2025, is it really that hard to put in the right USB-C port? No, it’s not, and my 35-year-old neck can’t take it anymore. By this point, I think it’s fair for most folks to expect some form of video signal from this essential socket, right as the best AR glasses you can buy are set to explode in popularity.
Which is why it becomes all the more annoying when it’s just not there. Some phone companies are notorious for this (looking at you, Nothing) but to not have it on the Switch 2 is just diabolical.
What’s the problem?
So technically, it could do video, but Nintendo’s supporting the wrong kind that nobody uses. This comes down to protocols – 99% of the market use DisplayPort Alt Mode for real versatility and a nice high bandwidth, whereas the big N seems to be using the same Mobility DisplayPort (MyDP) standard it used with the original Switch.
Bear in mind this is a standard that was typically used with a micro-USB port, so it’s rather old and is used for cost effectiveness. But what it’s done instead is cause a whole load of headaches and neck pain.
You see, my favorite way of playing on the best handhelds like my Steam Deck (especially with Nvidia GeForce Now) is to pop in my pair of Xreal Ones and have a 1080p picture right in front of my eyes.
Whether it’s on my beanbag in the living room or on a long haul flight, being able to look straight ahead rather than crane your neck to look down or cause hand strain by trying to hold up the handheld for a long period of time has been a Godsend. But that’s just a little too convenient now isn’t it!
Back to the old, busted ways
Instead, we’re right back to square one – having to use whatever weird workaround from the likes of Xreal or Viture to trick the Switch into thinking it's running in docked mode, run that HDMI signal through an encoder then to the glasses.
Not only is this a pain to set up, but it causes serious latency issues on gameplay and leads to drastically reduced battery life with the increased power draw of the Switch thinking it's in a dock.
Nintendo is using an entirely different video out standard to literally every other device on the planet, and I just can’t wrap my head around it.
You had one job
Will many people care? I’ve seen the launch day queues going for blocks, so I’m inclined to say “not really.” But that’s not the point, and neither is the possibility of Nintendo making it proprietary so that the company could make its own glasses.
The point is that USB-C was brought in to be a universal standard, and be all things to all people – I mean universal is literally in its name! And yet, companies are just doing weird things with it, to the point that it’s actively making your experience with gadgets worse.
And what’s even weirder is that Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch 2 does support USB mice. The company seems open to third party accessories, so why on Earth did we not get AR glasses thrown into the mix?
On behalf of all 30-somethings who are plagued by the neck pains of a poor posture past like me, it’s time you called a chiropractor.
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