Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Fix Spotted To Stop Connectivity Issues
It's been just over a year since the Switch launched, and like any other piece of hardware, it has had its share of problems. Shortly after launch, early adopters were reporting a variety of issues with their consoles, but one of the most prevalent centered around the left Joy-Con. Some users were experiencing connectivity issues with their Joy-Cons, and though Nintendo has been repairing those that are sent in on a warranty claim, it might be looking to fix the issue for good now.
As discovered by Reddit user Regnbyxor over on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, Nintendo has submitted a new filing for the Joy-Con to the Federal Communications Commission. The filing is fairly short (at least compared to some other FCC filings), and essentially just alerts the FCC that Nintendo is making changes to a device that's already compliant.
In one of the documents attached to the filing, Nintendo says that it has changed the "antenna pattern and peripheral circuit" in the Joy-Con, which should help solve this connectivity issue once and for all. For those who don't remember, some early Switch adopters found that their left (and, more rarely, their right) Joy-Con frequently lost connection with the console easily. This is an issue that was discovered even before the Switch released, so it's been around for a while.
Nintendo has tried to improve performance in a number of software patches since launch, but as this is a hardware issue, there's only so much improvement those patches can provide. The hope is that these changes fix the issue entirely moving forward, but unfortunately, it would also mean that those with a launch console – or indeed, one produced up to the point when these reworked Joy-Cons hit shelves – will be stuck with the problem unless they send their controllers in for warranty repairs or buy a new set.
Nintendo, of course, hasn't made any official announcement that redesigned Joy-Cons are in the works, and likely won't make one even when these Joy-Cons begin shipping with Switch consoles. We'll see if it does, but at the very least, this FCC filing is a good indication that Joy-Con connectivity issues will soon be a thing of the past.