Nintendo Switch OLED model is arriving with a bigger screen this October

The Nintendo Switch OLED model is the official Nintendo Switch Pro we've all been waiting to hear about and it's launching this October.

Nintendo Switch (OLED model), as it's officially called by Nintendo, will be released on October 8 for $349.99 (£309 in the UK, and AU$539.95 in Australia), with both black and white and black and neon red/blue models available at launch. We're actually seeing Nintendo Switch OLED pre-orders go online already too.

The console comes with a bigger, more vibrant screen and an ethernet port built right into the dock. Despite rumors that it would support 4K gaming, a press release confirmed that the Switch OLED model's highest resolution output will be 1080p in docked mode.

Nintendo dropped the news about the Switch's new hardware revision with a surprise trailer drop, focused on the possibilities its new OLED screen and improved speakers give to handheld and tabletop play. On the (literal) flipside, the console will be equipped with an extra-wide and extra-adjustable stand, letting you set it to your preferred degree of tilt for tabletop play.

The new hardware upgrade will be compatible with every game in the Switch library, and you'll also be able to use the same Joy-Con controllers to play - though it looks like this will be your first opportunity to pick up a white pair if you've been waiting for one. It will include 64 GB of built-in storage, doubling the standard Switch model's 32 GB of storage, and it looks like you'll still be able to expand that storage with a MicroSD card if you need more space.

The October 8 release date means Nintendo Switch OLED model will be released on the same day as Metroid Dread, the long-awaited next chapter in the main Metroid series. The reveal trailer includes some previously-seen Dread gameplay, as well as showing off the console playing Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Splatoon 2, and a sampling of other current Switch games.

Nintendo has a long history of releasing slight upgrades for its consoles in the middle of their life cycle: sometimes they receive their own exclusive line of titles, like with New Nintendo 3DS and Game Boy Color, and sometimes they just let you play the same games with a nicer setup, like Nintendo DS Lite and Game Boy Advance SP. It looks like Nintendo Switch OLED model will fall into the latter category.

Find something new to play with our guide to the best Switch games.

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.