In 2018, hacker Kate Temkin revealed a hardware vulnerability for the Nintendo Switch. It was possible to hack all Nintendo Switch consoles at the time because it was a hardware hack on the console’s NVidia Tegra chip, regardless of the firmware revision.
In response, Nintendo began producing an improved hardware model that was free of the fault and was dubbed “patched V1” in contrast to the initial “unpatched” units. Around the summer of 2018, the patched devices started to arrive in customers’ hands.
Code-named Mariko, Nintendo also published a full-fledged hardware update for the console in the summer of 2019 that did not contain the vulnerability (or V2).
The Switch Lite, a new console form factor, was also released in 2019 and features a chip that has been modified so that it is no longer hackable. The OLED variant, which is naturally also fixed against the 2018 attack, was released in 2021.
Can Switch OLED be hacked?
Despite the fact that it is technically feasible to hack any Switch now available, doing so on the original, unpatched V1 versions is far simpler and less expensive than doing it on the other models.
In 2022, the V1 models of the Switch console are the only ones that are still easily hackable. The rest is possible but challenging or pricey.
In conclusion, hacking your Switch in 2022 will take soldering expertise, as well as hard-to-come-by, pricey modchips, if you don’t have an “unpatched V1” console.