IT Home reported on June 7 that iFixit completed the disassembly of the Nintendo Switch 2 today and gave the new console a rating of only 3 points (out of 10 points), which is even harder to repair than the original Switch.
IT Home Note: After the evaluation criteria are updated to 2025, iFixit will release the original Switch The score was downgraded from the original 8 points to 4 points.
One of the reasons for the low score is that the battery is still firmly fixed by super glue, and it is very difficult to disassemble. The flash memory module and USB-C interface on the motherboard are also soldered, which increases the difficulty of repair. Nintendo continues its usual practice, using triangular screws on the Switch 2 and hiding many screws under the sticker, which is extremely easy to damage when tearing the sticker.
Nintendo has never provided the original Switch repair parts or official manuals to users, and Switch 2 does not provide any supporting support, so if repairs are required, you can only rely on third-party channels.
It is worth mentioning that some parts of the Switch 2 are relatively easy to replace, including headphone jack, speaker, microphone, microSD card slot, buttons soldered on the separation plate and cooling fan fixed by three screws.
Replacing the battery is still a challenge. iFixit says this is as tricky as the original Switch, and it is necessary to use a large amount of isopropanol and a complete set of spudger tools to remove the battery. The foam that Nintendo puts on the battery will break during disassembly, making it more laborious and messy to replace the battery in the future.
In addition, the game card slot of the Switch 2 is no longer a modular design, but is soldered on the motherboard like the Switch Lite, which is inconvenient to disassemble and assemble. Three types of thermal paste are used inside the host. These materials have hardened in the original Switch, which is not easy to remove and affects the heat dissipation effect.
What is even more worrying is that the new Joy-Con of the Switch 2 is more complex in structure and the difficulty of dismantling is increased. However, the rocker still uses potentiometer technology used by the old Joy-Con. This type of resistor element is prone to wear over time, and is one of the culprits of the "rock rod drift" problem that year. This time, the repair may be replaced with more durable solutions such as Hall effect or TMR, which is more difficult.
