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The Watch Leverage Onlineslightly refreshed Nintendo Switch is now officially available, but reports that Nintendo is handing out free hardware upgrades aren't quite accurate.

The newly released Switch is the same device that launched back in 2017, only this one sports an updated CPU that's more efficient, resulting in improved battery life. Both versions of the console are on shelves now, and a Friday report from Polygon had suggested that Nintendo was giving people who recently purchased the older version a free upgrade to the new one.

Nintendo says that's not the case -- not officially, at least -- in a statement provided to Mashable on Saturday.

We do not have a Nintendo Switch exchange program. We always want players to enjoy their Nintendo Switch systems, and if anything ever gets in the way of that, we encourage them to visit http://support.nintendo.com for support, or to contact our consumer support team.

The notion of an exchange program originated on Reddit. As a post from the user DarthMewTwo claims: "Nintendo [of America] told me if you bought your Switch after July 17th 2019, they can exchange it for the new upgraded model for free."

Reddit

Another user replied to the post, saying that they, too, had called Nintendo's and gotten a similar message. After seeing the posts, Polygon reached out to Nintendo customer support directly and heard a similar story: customers can swap their recently purchased older model for a new one provided they pay for shipping and insurance.

It's not clear why Nintendo's statement is at odds with firsthand reports from users that were then confirmed by a major media outlet. It's possible, as Polygon's report suggested, that this was or is an informal offer that may (or may not!) go away "now that details about the offer are more widely publicized."

This whole situation bears some resemblances to another recent and seemingly informal hardware exchange "offer" from Nintendo. In late July, an allegedly leaked memo revealed that the company had relaxed its proof of purchase and warranty requirements for Joy-Con repairs, in connection with the "Joy-Con drift" issue that's been highlighted as a recurring nuisance among Switch owners since the console first launched.

Nintendo's response at the time didn't directly refute the reports (unlike this new one), but it did acknowledge that users had noted "some Joy-Con controllers are not responding correctly." It then encouraged any affected users to reach out to support if they're having issues.

Also, just to be clear: don't confuse this report's upgraded version of the original Switch with the Nintendo Switch Lite. That smaller, portable-only revision of the console won't be out until Sept. 20. It's also $100 cheaper than the original/revised console and doesn't connect to TVs, so it's a completely different product.

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