Look, let's be honest: Nintendo is apparently gearing up for a bit of a hardware shuffle. Word on the street is that a new iteration of the Nintendo Switch 2 is in the works, designed specifically to comply with the European Union's latest battery regulations by allowing users to swap out the power pack themselves.

This nugget of news surfaced directly via Nintendo's official European portal. The notice outlines their strategy to tackle the 'Regulation 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries,' which is set to come into full force on 18 February 2027.

At its heart, this legislation aims to scrub the environmental impact of batteries across their entire lifecycle, banning hazardous metals while mandating that they be easy to remove and recycle. Essentially, any consumer electronic sold in the EU must ensure that the user can pop the battery out without needing a degree in engineering before the device reaches the end of its life.

The current Nintendo Switch 2 packs a 5,220mAh battery, but getting to it is a bit of a faff—requiring a series of tedious disassembly steps that aren't exactly user-friendly. To keep things above board, Nintendo plans to roll out a refreshed model for the European market that features an easily replaceable battery just in time for the regulation to bite.

Don't expect a power boost or a radical new look, though. The device will be identical in performance and aesthetic; the only real difference is how you'll tell them apart. While current Switch 2 units carry serial numbers starting with 'BEE', the new swappable-battery models will be marked with a distinct 'OSM' code on the packaging.

Nintendo has kept the finer details of the hardware design under wraps for now. As for whether we'll see this user-friendly design reach shores outside of Europe? That remains anyone's guess. Cheers.