SD card technology continues to evolve, and the Switch’s storage landscape is changing too. Here is a look at what the future holds.

SD Express: The Next Speed Leap

SD Express combines PCIe and NVMe interfaces with the familiar SD form factor, achieving speeds up to 985MB/s — nearly 10 times faster than UHS-I. While the current Switch does not support SD Express, next-generation consoles almost certainly will. These cards began appearing on the market in 2025 and will become more affordable over time.

Ultra-Capacity Standards

The SD Association’s roadmap includes microSDUC, which supports capacities up to 128TB. While cards of this size are years away from practical release, the standard ensures that the microSD format can grow with game sizes, which are already exceeding 100GB for some AAA titles.

Nintendo Switch 2 and Storage

The successor to the Switch, expected in 2025 or 2026, will likely feature:

• Larger internal storage (256GB or more)
• Support for faster SD card standards (UHS-II or SD Express)
• Possibly a proprietary expansion format alongside microSD

Cloud Gaming Impact

Services like GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming reduce the need for local storage since games stream from remote servers. However, reliable cloud gaming requires fast internet and is not yet practical for handheld play in many locations. Local storage will remain important for the foreseeable future.

Summary

The microSD card format will continue to serve as the primary storage expansion for Nintendo consoles. Emerging standards like SD Express promise dramatically faster speeds, while capacity ceilings keep rising. Investing in a good microSD card today remains a safe bet for future compatibility.