Firmware 5.0 could brick your Nintendo Switch if you're using a third-party dock

Shortly after Nintendo released its latest firmware, version 5.0, reports have come in that third-party docks are causing irreparable damage to the Switch, essentially "bricking" the device. If you've been using any other dock besides Nintendo's official one (the one that comes with your Switch), you should stop using it right now, even if it hasn't broken it yet.

Though most reports seem to confirm that it's related to third-party docks, at least one person has reported that their portable battery charger had caused the issue.

To be clear, the issue is not specific to a particular brand of dock. I've read comments from people using the Nyko docking kit and the FastSnail docking kit.

Nintendo currently does not have a method for backing up game saves off of the Switch, so it's important that you don't do anything that might render your Switch inoperable. You might have to wipe your system, which would delete all of those many, many hours of grinding in Breath of the Wild.

Lory Gil

Lory is a renaissance woman, writing news, reviews, and how-to guides for iMore. She also fancies herself a bit of a rock star in her town and spends too much time reading comic books.  If she's not typing away at her keyboard, you can probably find her at Disneyland or watching Star Wars (or both).